Four Hearts
by Avia Jenith
Summary: A year after the events of the last episode a man shows up talking about the Black Wings, Daisuke and Satoshi get drawn into a new plot of hikari artworks and hidden agendas. Yaoi free, Rated for language. Chap 12, the Heart of Chaos appears.
1. Wings of Black

AN: I do not write that weird yaoi, I do not like the boy on boy. I do not like it here or there, I do not like it anywhere. I do not write that weird yaoi, So don't expect it, girls and boys! A poem just to let you know that my intentions are entirely pure. They're friends only, got it? FRIENDS! I don't begrudge you your likings, but I don't see the need for it, didn't see it in the anime or manga, hence didn't include it. Sorry to disappoint some of you. Please R&R anyway?

Anyway, to those of you who are currently reading my Yu-Gi-Oh! fic, The Collector, please forgive me for not posting in two months. I'm having a bit of a writer's block in getting more than halfway through my next chappie. This is what came about by a desperate need to write something when I had no ideas for that one. Be assured though, that once I finish the next chapter, I will also post the end, for that is already written. Backwards, I know, but that's how it is. This story is set at the end of the anime series, using that as a basis for some things, but accented with my most current knowledge of the manga. Right now, that means Volume 10, as that was the most recently released, but I'll try to adjust the plot or descriptions or whatever wherever possible if they contradict with me. So, enough of my lack of confidence, you came to read the story! Here goes something!

Four Hearts

Chapter 1

Wings of Black

"Hey Daisuke! Check it out, it's snowing!"

"Yeah? What's so new about that, Takeshi? It snows every year. Eventually."

"Hey, cheer up. You should be happy. Only lunch, a few more periods, and we're off for Winter Break!"

Daisuke glanced out the window at the falling forms of frozen snowflakes, having trouble getting as excited as his perpetually hyper loudmouthed friend. It had been warm all winter and everyone had given up hope of a white Christmas in a week. But the weather was never one to be predicted, and the students of Azumano High had woken to a cold morning and promising grey clouds overhead. It reminded him a lot of last year, warm weather all through autumn until winter. That is, until that day it had snowed. The snowflakes had fallen so clean and pure, a comforting chill against his skin and a blanket of soft white slowly forming. Dark had said it was for him, a thank you for saving the two she had cared for the most. He had saved them, given them their greatest wish. If he could save them, why hadn't he been able to help Dark?

"Is Daisuke Niwa in this class?" The sound of his name snapped him out of his reverie. His gentle red eyes shifted from their absent gaze through the fogging glass to look at the speaker.

"Oh, Mrs. Sugiyama! I'm here. Did I…did I do something wrong?" He asked nervously.

"No, no dear, nothing's the matter," the high school art teacher smiled sweetly. She held up a largish, canvas covered rectangle, hefting it to chest height. "I just wanted to return this to you. Congratulations again on winning the school contest." Striding over to where he was seated, she handed it over to Daisuke. With a final smile, Mrs. Sugiyama turn a walked out of the classroom.

"Wow, Daisuke! Lemme see! What'd you paint?" Takeshi began tearing at the canvas over Daisuke's shoulder.

"Takeshi! Stop it! You could have seen it anytime this whole _month_ while it was on display with the other contest winners!" Daisuke said, vainly trying to keep Takeshi from removing the covering.

"Ah, c'mon Daisuke! You know I never go down the art hallway unless I absolutely have to. C'mon, lemme see!" He put a hand in Daisuke's face and pushed him backward, sending him tumbling to the floor. Takeshi ripped the canvas off to reveal the painting. He ran critical eyes over it as if he were a professional art critic.

On a starry field of midnight blues stretched two graceful black wings highlighted in deep purples and blues of the same colors. A figure in silhouette could be seen behind them, so dark and perfectly hidden as to make it difficult to tell where the wings ended and he began. A single feather was forever frozen at the end of a downward descent, cast in a light absent from the rest of the objects in the painting. From its sharp black tip came a single slash of spiraling red tracing its fall, like bright blood against the prominent darkened tones.

"Aw, Daisuke! Why'd you do a painting of Dark? He's old news, no one's seen him since they say he helped save the town from that weird disaster," Takeshi complained, dropping the artwork on the desk and dragging Daisuke from the floor. "And since when did you care about him, anyway? I always had to drag you around to get you to help me get a scoop on him." Daisuke pulled his arm from Takeshi's grip, a frown on his face and uncharacteristic sadness in his eyes. He picked up his painting, carefully wrapping it up again. Sorrow in every line, he walked from the room, not caring that he was a few minutes early for lunch.

"Daisuke! Wait! I wasn't trying to make you mad! Would it make you feel better if I said I liked your drawing of the stupid thief?" Takeshi shouted at his receding back.

"Shut up, Takeshi! Can't you see you're making it worse! You're such meanie, making poor Daisuke sad!" piped a girl's voice from the back of class. Takeshi stuck out his tongue and showed the red of his eyelid, receiving a squeal of distaste from the girls for his trouble. He walked over to Satoshi's desk, sitting on it and the book he had been reading.

"Yo Hiwatari! You're closer to him than anyone else, except Elder Harada, seeing as how you live with him now your dad's dead from that disaster. What's up with Daisuke?"

"Spoken with your usual tact, Saehara. And I'm not sure what you mean." Satoshi tried to pull his book out from under Takeshi's rear, but gave up as he leaned in towards him, adding more weight on top.

"You know, right now. Weren't you paying attention? He got all mad at me and stormed out of the room! Why? C'mon, I know you know."

Satoshi was pretty sure he did indeed know, and it probably had to do with the upcoming anniversary. Takeshi's words had probably cut deep into his thoughts. But there was no way this idiot would understand all that. And even if he could, Satoshi wouldn't tell.

"I'd probably get upset, too, if you said my prize painting was bad." He stood up, packing his backpack in preparation to leave.

"Bu…I…I didn't! I just said it was old news! I didn't say it sucked!" The bell rang clamorously through the scene. Satoshi picked up his pack and smiled mysteriously at Takeshi through his glasses as he and the rest of the class headed for the door to lunch.

"Oh, and it was a painting, not a drawing."

* * *

Daisuke slid down the trunk of the tree, letting the rough bark scratch and stain the back of his uniform shirt, its white blending with the that of the fresh fallen snow. He cradled the painting to his chest, remembering the hours he had spent making it just right, the memories he had known with each stroke of the paintbrush. He knew he had overreacted to Takeshi's comments, but at the moment he didn't care. Maybe after the coming day passed he would be okay, but for now, he kept his promise and remembered.

A few minutes passed, crystal tears leaving sparkling twin paths along his cheeks. People began pouring from the school buildings, laughing, talking, swinging box lunches. He stood slowly, wiping dirt and wet flakes from the seat of his pants and dragging a sleeve across his dripping face. For a while he just stood there, watching the gaiety of the gathering crowd of students as they enjoyed their afternoon meal. Soon the bell rang its discordant tune and they all proceeded to pack up and head inside. Daisuke turned to the other side of the rough trunk, beginning to head to the track for Phys. Ed. Behind him, the snow lay disturbed, an interruption of the perfection slowly filling in by the steady fall.

"Probably going to cancel class with this weather. Oh! I should put my painting in my locker first." Once more, he turned around, retracing his steps and following his footprints to avoid further defiling the peaceful whiteness. He reached the tree he had stood at and started to head back to the main building, but stopped short. A man was standing only a few feet away, staring at him with a humorless smile on his face. Daisuke squinted into the light reflecting off the bright snow as the man approached him.

"Daisuke Niwa. Nice to meet you. Could you come with me for a moment?"

"Uh…I'm sorry, sir. I…have to get to class," Daisuke smiled awkwardly, a little nervous about the man's expression. He began walking again, trying to get some distance between him and the strange man. But a strong hand gripped his wrist and pulled him back.

"I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean that as a request."

By the end of school, Satoshi was worried; Daisuke hadn't showed up for classes after lunch. He was afraid Daisuke might have run off somewhere. He stopped a girl from their class as she passed him.

"Miss Akeda, have you seen Daisuke? He wasn't in class today."

"Really? I saw him at the end of lunch, so he must have been here today."

"Did you see where he went?"

"No, but he was talking with a man I didn't recognize. Maybe it was the art teacher, 'cause I heard them talking about Daisuke's painting. Except he called it 'Black Wings,' and I thought Daisuke had named it 'Wings of Black.' Oh, well. It's not like I paid too much attention to it, so I might have been wrong."

Satoshi frowned as she walked off. He _had_ called it 'Wings of Black.' He didn't like the mention of the former title, particularly since he knew there were no male art teachers. He went out to the lunch area where he himself had seen Daisuke earlier. Following the nearly faded path to the tree, he stopped. There, in the snow, lay Daisuke's painting, amidst a dirty splotch of churned up snow.

Carefully rewrapping the colorful canvas in its wrapping, he picked up 'Wings of Black,' looking about for any clues as to what had happened. From the initial site of what appeared to be a struggle, a path of footprints led away. But only one set was visible, whereas two, one most likely Daisuke's, had come in.

"What happened, Daisuke?" he asked to empty air.

* * *

AN: Okay, how'd you like the first chapter? Well, stay tuned, I've got another one coming up for you right now: The Mysterious Man. 


	2. The Mysterious Man

Chapter 2

The Mysterious Man

"Dai and Satoshi should be home soon, right Miss Emiko?" To-To fluttered around the house, birdlike even in her human form. "I can't wait to see them, they've been gone so long!"

"No longer than usual, To-To," Kosuke replied, looking up from the pipe he was fixing under the kitchen sink. He sat up, cracking his head on the cabinet. Rubbing a hand on it through his spiky black hair, he continued. "Is everything alright, To-To? You've been acting really strange lately. Is there something we need to know about?"

Her eyes went wide for a moment, then settled into an expression of feigned innocence as she fiddled with her skirt. "No, no! Everything's all right. All is fine and dandy! Why wouldn't it be, Mr. Kosuke?" She cracked a reassuring smile that instead made the Niwas more suspicious.

"Alright, spill it. What's going on? You know something, don't you?" Emiko demanded.

"Nooo nooo! Nothing at all. Really, Ms. Emiko!" To-To nearly shrieked. She shrank back against the wall, fidgeting more furiously under their combined stares. She cast about for a moment, then slipped out into the living room, finding useless little things to do to avoid their eyes. Kosuke and Emiko exchanged a glance.

"Alright then, Ms. _Towa_, we'll leave you to your secrets."

"It's To-To!"

"Of course it is, Ms. Towa," Kosuke said with a not-so-comforting smile and a pat on her shoulder. "You know us Niwas will do anything to please such an old piece of artwork."

"I'm not old!" she protested as he steered her toward a couch.

"Of course you're not, dear," Emiko chimed in from her other side, "You're only a hundred or so years old, Kosuke and I aren't even middle aged, and even Dad is only-"

"You'll leave my age out of it. Won't they, Ms. Towa?" Daiki appeared behind from a chair, boxing her in.

"What do you say, Towa, will you tell us what's up?" Emiko asked innocently.

"No fair, you ganged up on me! But I told you, it's nothing! I've just been sensing something strange the past few days." She hung her head in defeat and exhaustion from protesting.

"Hmmm, that is indeed odd," Daiki said, stroking his beard. "Now that Dark and Krad are gone, the only artworks that have given us trouble were never enough to bother you, Towa."

"It's To-To," she said feebly.

"Well, anyway, it means we should all be more careful the next few days," Kosuke said. "Do you think it has anything to do with the coming date?

"I…I don't know, Mr. Kosuke. The feeling's not very specific at the moment."

The sound of the front door opening stopped the conversation. Another click came as the door was closed, followed by soft footfalls in the front hall. Bright blue eyes behind big glasses took in their worried tableau.

"It's alright. It's only me," Satoshi said in a somewhat tired voice.

"Ooo, Satoshi! What's that you're holding?" To-To asked, flitting about him, back to her normal, happily hyper self.

"It's Daisuke's painting. They returned it today."

"The one that won first prize?"

"Yes. Has Daisuke come home yet?"

"No. To-To was just asking the same thing about the both of you." Kosuke's eyes narrowed. "And now I have to ask you what I asked her. Why?"

Satoshi's expression didn't change as he shifted the painting in his arm. "Let me set this down in Daisuke's room first. It may be nothing, and that will give him a minute to walk in the door and prove me wrong." When they didn't protest, he began the climb up the stairs. The Niwas and To-To took seats in the living room and waited.

Soon, a blue haired head bobbed down the steps as Satoshi came to join them. He entered the living room area and stooped to sit in the chair they had left him. _Ding-Dong_! the doorbell called, halting his downward progress. He quirked an eyebrow at the assembled family, then rose. "I'll answer it."

"Well, go on, then. It might be Daisuke," Daiki said, shooing him off toward the door.

Satoshi headed off up the hall, wondering why, if it _was_ Daisuke, he didn't just come on in to his own home. The 'training traps,' as he had described them to him, had been disabled for some time, so there shouldn't be any problem. He reached the door and paused for a moment, the doorknob cold against his hand from the snow outside. Then he opened the door.

The cold air rushed in around him, a few stray flakes finding their way into the house, in his wind-waving hair, on his glasses. On the doorstep stood a man with a captivating, humorless smile. He was instantly suspicious, and more so with the studying, knowing eyes that looked him over.

"Can I help you?" Satoshi asked in a voice as cold as the breeze on his face, the underlying tone implying he hoped he couldn't.

"Yes, in fact I believe you can. You see, there is something I'm trying to do, and if you help me, I'll most likely succeed." The stranger leaned forward, a hint of something else now in his happy smile.

"I don't have time for this. I'm afraid you'll have to leave now." Satoshi began to shut the door, retreating into the warmth of the heated house.

"You two are so alike, and different." The laughing statement spun Satoshi around.

"What did you say!" he demanded, stepping across the threshold to confront the man. Could he possibly mean Daisuke?

"Such different reactions, but each distrusting. Would you like to know where he is?" Satoshi's eyes narrowed dangerously at this statement, only to open wide as the man reached a hand into his business suit pocket and pulled out a familiar object.

"Where did you get that! No!" But the man had already thrust the silver object against his chest.

* * *

The tinkle of broken china accented a muffled exclamation from Kosuke. On the floor lay the broken cup To-To had been handing him, hot brown liquid dripping down his pants and the sofa, the remnants of his tea. 

"To-To! What's wrong?"

"Just now, someone activated a Hikari artwork! Not a strong one, but really close. It just surprised me, that's all. It seemed so close, it might as well have been right at our doorstep!"

Kosuke, Emiko, and Daiki froze.

"The doorstep?" Emiko asked, and edge of panic in her voice. A cold wind blew in from the hallway carrying the sound of the open door banging against the wall.

"Satoshi!"

The four of them ran together down the narrow hall, staring at the growing snowy dark visible through the open portal of the doorway. Gentle flakes of snow added to the deepening gloom of dusk as they reached the outside.

"Mr. Satoshi!" To-To shouted, pointing across the cobbled street. A grey, nondescript car was parked just down the street. By the open rear door, the snow-obscured shape of a man could be vaguely seen lowering a limp blue-haired figure onto the seat. On the boy's chest was a brooch of lacy silver filigree surrounding a large, perfectly striped tiger's-eye stone. The man smiled genially at them and waved unconcernedly. The door slammed shut, hiding Satoshi's heels from sight as they stood stunned for a moment. He began to slide his legs into the driver's seat when they finally began to move.

"Hey you! Stop!" Emiko shouted, rushing forward. The man's near-shoulder-length black hair swayed as he continued to sit down behind the wheel. His only response was the raising of a gracefully curving object not quite seen before it flashed brightly. When the light faded, Emiko was picking herself up, having been blown over by the magical blast. She started to race forward again, but stopped as she encountered the flying snow and gravel cast up by the rear tires as the car drove off, its purpose accomplished.

* * *

The Niwas sat stiffly in the living room once more, contemplating what had just happened. On the coffee table lay a single scrap of paper, a solitary string of numbers and letters scrawled upon it. 

"We have the license plate number. We could call the cops," To-To suggested worriedly, toying with the sheet nervously.

"And tell them what, Towa?" Daiki asked in response, "That a strange man the very picture of the model working citizen mysteriously made their ex-commander unconscious then threw my daughter across the street with a magical object?"

"Yes! Then they'd have to help us."

"To-To," Emiko interceded, "Just because our family knows about the magic nature of artworks doesn't mean the average public will accept it. It was enough of a stretch for them to accept a winged Phantom thief without knowing why or how he did it. Besides, we didn't really get a good look at him beyond what he wore."

"Yes, the police are out. We need to focus now on figuring out what happened for ourselves, then on finding out how to fix it." Kosuke shifted in his seat, ignoring the tea stain he now sat on, and rested his elbows on his knees, hands gesturing his thoughts. "It's safe to assume this man got Daisuke as well. That's most likely what Satoshi was going to tell us before…well, before he got him as well. Why else would _he_ have Dai's picture instead of Daisuke himself?" He reached forward to pull a leather-bound tome from the table, the book already opened to a page he had found earlier in the discussion.

"That brooch on Satoshi, it was a Hikari artwork, the Bengal's Breath Brooch. According to this, it found its way to a European lady with a certain fondness for felines. She was very secretive about her treasures, and it was lost when she died of a heart attack. It seems to have the power to induce a deep sleep on anyone for as long as they wear it. That's must have been how he got Satoshi unconscious. But I haven't been able to find the other artwork. I didn't get enough of a look at it, and you'd be surprised how many objects can magically blast a person, Hikari or otherwise."

"Well, I don't think we're going to need much more than that. This man may have known where to find Daisuke and Satoshi, for whatever reason he wants them, but he doesn't know everything. We're a phantom thief family, and we can find him wherever he tries to hide." Emiko set her face in determined, grim smile.

"How are we going to do that, Ms. Emiko?" To-To asked, confused.

"You're going to find that brooch."

AN: Uh, if you liked this story, please review and tell me so. If no one likes it, I'm not going to bother putting too much effort into this story, and maybe only write it in my head. And if you can, include your thoughts on the plot, though I haven't told you much of it yet, and any ideas you might have, and especially ideas for new Hikari artworks (what they are and their powers), to help me along if I get stuck. I promise I'll give you credit if I use it.

Now, I have quite a few more chapters written on this, up to chapter 8 actually, except I'm kinda stuck on getting it to go where I want, and busy with end of the year school projects. So I'm spacing out what I've got to make them last longer until I get more written. That means from now on, you'll probably only be getting one at a time. Still, if you can't wait, I'll give you a hint to the next chapter: some familiar and long lost faces reappear, though you have to figure out who they are for yourself. (Shouldn't be too hard cause I'm really counting on you being able to.) So, see you soon with Chapter 3-Heartbeats! Please, review, as we authors live solely for it!


	3. Heartbeats

AN: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I meant to get it up days ago, but for some reason the stupid site wasn't letting me onto the log-in screen. And no log-in means no updating. But anyway, I'm logged in now, so here you go! Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 3

Heartbeats

Satoshi woke suddenly, as the comforting hands of sleep that had encompassed him on the doorstep were abruptly ripped away with a harsh pull on the chest of his shirt. He opened his eyes and at first thought he was still asleep when only darkness met his sight. Then his eyes adjusted to the dim light, a reddish cast throughout the room emanating from a dark silhouette a few feet in front of him. A movement to his left caught his attention, and he looked over to catch sight of a sluggishly shifting shape ending in flash of bright red.

"Daisuke." He tried sit up and reach him, but found he couldn't move. Thin cords bound his wrists and ankles, not much, but enough he couldn't move freely or get loose.

"Don't worry about him, Satoshi Hikari, he's just fine. Merely groggy, that's all. Still feeling the effects of the chloroform I used after removing the brooch to put on you. Such a wonderful artwork for spiriting away, the Bengal's Breath Brooch, though I like the name 'Cat Nap Brooch' better. It's much more fitting." A man stepped into his field of vision, barely more than a dark outline in the dim lighting, but Satoshi recognized the voice as the man who had attacked him.

"How do you know that name?" Satoshi asked, struggling to come to a sitting position.

Daisuke finally broke through the fog of the drug as he spoke. "Satoshi? What happened? Where are we?"

"So the second tamer awakes. Good, now we can begin." The man began doing unseen preparations across the room. Daisuke shifted at the comment and scooted his way over to Satoshi.

"Satoshi, what's going on? How does he know about that?"

"I don't know, Daisuke. He used a Hikari artwork, so that's probably not all he knows. Did he say anything to you, anything at all?"

"He mentioned my painting and that it bore an interesting resemblance to one half of the…Satoshi! He said 'like the Black Wings'! But how could he know about-"

"You might be wondering why I brought you two here," the man interrupted, coming back around the dark mound. "Let's just say each of you two possesses a certain…quality inside you; in your hearts, in your _DNA_. And please, don't interrupt. You're only conscious now because I need you to be, though I doubt you will be for long. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to break strong seals, especially when doing so with your hearts."

"What!" Satoshi cried, "Break a seal!" His eyes squinted in the darkness at the black mound without the aid of his glasses. "No! It can't be!"

"What is it, Satoshi!" Daisuke asked, unable to see anything but the outline.

"It's…it's the broken rubble of…the Black Wings!" He cut off as the man's hands shot outward, a shadowy object in each fist. Feathers, one white, one black, stretched out to each side. With a graceful movement, he swooped the feathers forward, pressing them against the remains of the chest, where the heart would be. One crossed the other, an x of dichromatic plumage marking where a thin line of blood red light escaped at contact. From the unseen depths of the back of the room came a strong pulse of magic, and the glow from the rubble grew in intensity. With a rumble so low it was barely audible, the two boys watched as the pieces of the destroyed artwork flowed together and up, reforming, until the Black Wings stood before them once more.

Daisuke could feel his pulse racing in awe and frightened excitement. _Ba-thump, ba-thump._ It seemed so loud in his ears it drowned out the sound of his breathing. _Ba-thump, ba-thump._ A second heartbeat now could be heard with his, coming from his right, Satoshi's heart beating in time with his own. _Ba-thump, ba-thump._ The reddish glow began to weakly pulse with their thumping chests, then more strongly, and stronger still, until it seemed the very room beat with their hearts. For a few endless moments, nothing happened as the magic echoed the music of their lifeblood. With each passing drumming that thrummed into the stone, a little more of their energy was sapped, each beat of their hearts a countdown until they succumbed to sleep and lost consciousness. But now the sound of the beat changed, the sound of their two hearts multiplying, an eerie double echo coming from the nascent statue.

_**

* * *

The days had gone in eternal moments and fleeting hours in the sealed darkness. Time meant nothing. An eternity had passed, an eternity was passing, and another was yet to come. All that existed was memories of those left behind and remnants of broken dreams of glory. Two hearts lived in this void, stilled by the frozen time. Two hearts that had once been one, mirror images, the same but reversed. Two hearts stirred at the sound of a beat, persistent and strong, the call of echoing souls. Two hearts once more pumped emotional blood, hot and full of feeling. One heart felt hate for a master, one heart felt the renewed bond of a friend in danger, as two hearts emerged in the heart of Black Wings.**_

* * *

Daisuke could feel it now, four distinct beats, two from him and Satoshi, and two from the Black Wings. With surprising suddenness, two lights flared in the eye sockets of the skeletal winged figure, bright and intense, one greedy golden, one deeply blue-purple. Daisuke and Satoshi were slumped on the ground, their energy nearly depleted in their unwilling summoning.

"_Daisuke/**Master** Satoshi_!" The two names were spoken at the same time in one dual voice that echoed through the loudly silent room, conflicting emotions vying in each. Then it spoke again.

"What are you doing here! Why did you unseal me! And _him_!" This time the two tones in the dual voice spoke the same words, but each carried a different tone, one side surprised and slightly panicked, the other angry and distrustful.

"Unfortunately, I'm not much of one for reunions. So I'll finish this quickly," the last remaining person in the room said. Their captor placed his hands over the light pouring from the feathery x across the stone chest and pushed. The feathers shone with a bright white light, obscuring vision. Four cries of surprise and pain filled the room, echoing for endless seconds in the burst of magic. The light died down, leaving Daisuke and Satoshi slipping into unconsciousness.

"For now, I have no further need of you boys. I'll finish my plans somewhere more…private." The words lingered in the tired fog as the two fell once more into the dark land of sleep.

* * *

AN: Okay, I'm not exactly sure I like how this chapter turned out, and it's kind of short too. But at least it's something, hm? Anyway, I only got one review last time, so if you would be so kind as to up that number this time around please? And even considering the number of reviews, I thought I might ask if someone would like to do fanart of this. It feels a little presumptuous of me, but I would love to see what the Wings of Black that Daisuke painted looks like in real life.

And on that note, the next chapter is called Lost and Found. It's quite a bit longer I think and serves to advance the plot line a bit more. See you there!


	4. Lost and Found

AN: Chapter 4, yea! Well, this chapter is much longer, and I hope you like it, 'cause it's a bunch of set up. Sorry for those of you that don't like that sort of thing.

* * *

Chapter 4

Lost and Found

To-To's eyes flew open. "Mr. Daiki! Mr. Kosuke! Ms. Emiko! You won't believe it! Just now I…thought…I…felt…" she trailed off, suddenly realizing she couldn't remember what she had felt. "Wait a minute! What happened?"

"You passed out, To-To," Emiko said, sounding concerned, and helped To-To sit up on the couch. "Don't you remember?"

"No. Why would I do that?"

"We were hoping you could fill us in," Kosuke said, leaning in. "We were driving all over town hoping you might be able to sense the Bengal's Breath."

"That's right. Something was hiding it, some sort of magic barrier, maybe. Had to be, or I could have found it."

"Yes, that's what you said in the car. Then you shouted, grabbed your head, and fell unconscious," Daiki's gravelly voiced piped up from the armchair.

"I remember! A big blast of magic suddenly flared up. It overwhelmed me when I was looking for even the tiniest clue to the Bengal's Breath! And I felt…no, it couldn't be, it just couldn't."

"To-To, please don't hide anything from us! Both Daisuke and Satoshi are missing and we need everything we can find out to help get them back." Emiko clung to To-To's hand desperately.

"Oh, alright, but you'll think I'm crazy! I could have sworn I felt Mr. Dark!"

"What? Dark!" Their confused and surprised cries vied with each other in volume. "How can that be!"

"Hey! There's something else now, too!" To-To cried. "I can feel the Bengal's Breath!"

"Where, To-To! Can you tell us where you sense it!"

"I can't say, but I can show you. It's funny. Suddenly it's clear as crystal. Whoever that man was, _he_ must have removed the barrier stopping me. I couldn't see clearly who he was through all that snow!"

"Now's not the time to worry about who he was. We need to try to find the boys before something worse happens to them," Daiki said.

"Right! I'll lead the way!" shouted To-To.

* * *

"Stop the car, Mr. Kosuke! Pull over right here! The Bengal's Breath Brooch is somewhere really close." To-To screeched, the sound only minimally muffled by the pane of glass she had her nose pressed against, her excited, fearful breath fogging on the winter-cooled surface.

"Then they must be somewhere in the park." Emiko was already unbuckled and pulling the door handle as Kosuke swerved into the closest parking spot, leaving a pair of black trails on the asphalt with his screeching stop. The four of them rushed out, Kosuke, To-To, and Daiki doing their best to catch up to Emiko.

"Ms. Emiko! To your left! They're somewhere to the left!" To-To shouted at her fading back. Emiko turned, dodging into a manicured hedgerow at her call, the rest of them trailing behind at top speed though the hole she had created. She stopped as she met a branching trail, her fear-fueled flight halted by her confusion. To-To took the lead as she hesitated, racing ahead, to the right this time, slowing as she reached a sharp left-hand turn. The Niwas met her as she seemed to collapse, falling to kneel on the melted slush and dirty gravel on the ground.

"To-To! What's wrong!" Kosuke said, rushing to kneel beside the woman.

"It's alright. I found them." Behind another row of perfectly trimmed bushes covered in snow, lay the Bengal's Breath Brooch, the amber-encased black stripes glinting off the snow, the curves of the delicate silver decorations encircling it shining with frost. It rested as if carelessly thrown down next to the two boys, Daisuke and Satoshi, who looked dirty, bruised, and obviously unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. They carefully picked them up, and brought them back to the car, thankful for the cover of darkness that aided in avoiding awkward questions.

* * *

"It doesn't make sense. Why kidnap them, then let them leave less than a day later? Or rather, do everything to make sure we find them?" Emiko had finally calmed down and was slumped in a chair with a soothing cup of tea, after, of course, she had made sure Daisuke was, indeed, going to be just fine.

"Yes, it does seem rather like he was mocking us," Daiki answered. "Perhaps he no longer needed them. But what would he need from them in the first place?" Kosuke looked up at his statement, the expression of his eyes giving a clear view of the wheels turning in his head.

"To-To? You felt something really powerful this afternoon, right before you fainted."

"Yes, Mr. Kosuke. I felt this big surge of magic, it was overpowering! And right before I passed out I felt a familiar presence. Or at least I think I did. I might have imagined it. I thought I felt Dark."

"You …did." The two words interjected themselves into the conversation. Four pairs of eyes shifted to the staircase, where Satoshi was attempting to brace his exhausted body. He fumbled in his rumpled shirt pocket and pulled out two contrasting, tapered shapes, one black, one white. "I managed…to grab…these when…he wasn't…looking, right before…I went…unconscious." He breathed heavily, as if speaking was almost too much of an effort for his drained state, and began to work his way over to the living room.

"You really shouldn't be up, you know," Daiki commented, though he did nothing to dissuade him from his chosen course. "But since you're awake, why don't you tell us what happened?" Satoshi literally fell into the nearest chair, which had been hastily evacuated by Emiko.

"The man, Daisuke said he mentioned the Black Wings to him. And when I was awake, I…I saw it."

"The…Black Wings!"

"What was left of it. He…he needed us for our connection to it. It was like every emotion I ever felt about them, both of them, all its energy, were…siphoned into the artwork. I…I think Daisuke felt the same. All the Hikari records always…indicated that something like this was possible, but…nothing like it had ever been done before. The theory was that something, or in this case someone, outside could…connect with the emotions that an artwork had absorbed, the ones that…animate it, give it life. If the emotions are…strong enough, like my hate, and Daisuke's caring, it could…break the artwork's seal." He lifted his bright eyes to meet those assembled around him, seemingly unsurprised by the sharp intake of breath that came from each.

"You mean…Dark, and Krad, have been, released? The seal Dark placed is…broken?" Emiko stared unblinkingly down at his seated form with a look of disbelief, though she had truthfully been expecting this sort of news since To-To had revealed what she felt. Another set of footsteps came on the stairs, and Daisuke emerged from the stairwell, rubbing his drooping eyes tiredly.

"The problem is, Mom," he said, catching his breath as Satoshi had at the bottom of the stairs, "Neither of us have…been able to contact…Dark or Krad." He, too, settled down, sitting next to Satoshi, the two of them drained, as the magic had pulled every bit of their energy into releasing the two halves of the living artwork.

* * *

The doorbell of the Niwa's home clamored throughout the house. Though it had been two worried days since the breaking of the Black Wings' seal, the family still leapt at the jingling tone, remembering what had happened the last time it had been sounded. Daisuke, who was closest to the door, stepped over to open it. It jangled over and over, as if the person on the other side of the wooden barrier was impatient.

"Yes? Who is it?" Daisuke twisted the handle, cautiously opening the door and peering out. "Waaah!" he shouted as someone pulled on his hand and started to drag him down the street. Kosuke and Emiko burst out of the door anxiously at his startled, strangled noise.

"Jeeze, your family's jumpy," Takeshi grumbled, stopping so suddenly in his hurried run that Daisuke fell over trying to avoid running into him. "What're you doing down there, Daisuke?" he complained, noticing finally that his friend was on the ground. "Aw, it's your choice where you sit, why should I care?" He paused as a whoosh of wind tore at his winter coat. "Why'd you take us outside, Daisuke? It's cold like you wouldn't believe out here. Let's go inside." Grabbing the collar of Daisuke's shirt, he began dragging him back through the front door, leaving a trail of plowed snow behind them.

"So, Takeshi," he asked when he had finally gotten all the snow off of the back of his shirt and the two of them had set down, "why did you came here?" He was wondering exactly what scheme he was literally trying to drag him into now.

"Well, you see, I got this really hot tip-"

"You mean you 'accidentally' overheard some secret information from your father at the police station," Satoshi interrupted from his seat where he had joined them while Daisuke had dried off.

"Well, yeah, naturally." Takeshi seemed not at all repentant. "I've got to get hot stuff somewhere. Anyway, what I heard is definitely going to be front page news." He leaned forward conspiratorially and dropped his voice, forcing them to lean in as well to hear him. "You can't tell anyone, or they'll be all over this too, and my story won't be worth anything. I heard my father telling his men; there's been another warning, the first one in a year."

"A warning?" Daisuke unconsciously lowered his voice to match his friend's.

"Yeah. It says he's going to steal the Thousand Tears' Shine, tonight at eight."

"You mean…it's a warning from…Dark!"

"Some of Dad's cops sure thought so, but Dad's not so sure. He didn't sign his name, and Dad said he always signed it. Guess he wanted to make sure they knew it was_ him_ who was going to steal it." Takeshi grinned at Daisuke's shocked expression. "I _thought_ you'd like to in on this little scoop."

Daisuke just stared for a moment at his stupid smile. "B…but, if he thinks that it _is_ Dark, why didn't he bring in Satoshi? He was in charge of his capture."

"I don't know why he hasn't brought in Hiwatari yet. Maybe he doesn't think-"

A ring interrupted him, high-pitched notes jangling from Satoshi's pocket. He calmly reached in and flipped it open.

"Hiwatari. Yes. I'll be there. Tell your men to wait for my arrival." With a soft _bip!_ he ended the call, then shifted his icy blue eyes to meet the questioning ones of the other two high schoolers.

"It seems Takeshi here hasn't been telling us his usual web of knotted truths and hair-brained schemes." Slipping the phone back into the pocket, he continued in his soft, near-emotionless voice. "They want me to come supervise the police defense of the Thousand Tears' Shine. Seems your father managed to convince someone that it really is Dark once again."

* * *

AN: So, this is my attempt at a cliffhanger. Hope it's as horrible as some of the others I've read in other stories. Why? Cause I'm evil that way. I hope as well that you enjoyed these chapters, again, please review, that way I know what you like and dislike about FH and can change it accordingly if I wish. But even more so than that, please just be kind and let me know what you think.

Next chapter coming soon: White in the Night.


	5. White in the Night

AN: I want to give a big thank you to all three of you who have reviewed. And to all of you who haven't, please, I'm begging you, R&R! Now if you want to now want happens in this chapter, I'll tell you that a familiar angel returns. If you want to know more than that, you'll have to read it for yourself.

* * *

Chapter 5

White in the Night

Inspector Saehara was getting antsy. He had called the damn teenage icicle commander, and Hiwatari had yet to show. True, he had said he would arrive five minutes from now, but dammit, you should be late if you're not at least fifteen minutes early to such an important thing. He snagged a passing plain-clothes, and shook the poor officer.

"Where the hell _is_ that stupid kid!" he demanded.

"I'm right here, Inspector." He whirled around at the calm voice behind his shoulder, not having expected an answer.

"Gaah! Geeze! Dammit, don't scare me like that! Save it for Dark! We didn't manage to capture him last time, but we're sure as _Hell_ going to do it tonight!" He eyed the reinstated commander thoughtfully. The kid had grown a few inches since he had last seen him, making him nearly his height, and, though he acted the same, something about his demeanor seemed a little less tight assed and distant. The kid merely waited silently while he thought.

"Look. I may not be too fond of taking orders from a kid, but…well, honestly I had no idea what the hell to do when I got the warning."

"I figured as much by the fact that you called me here. Do you really believe it to be Dark? He _has_ been quiet for nearly a year."

"Yeah, but he was gone much longer than that last time. Still," he felt his anger draining from him now that some sort of action was taking place, "take a look at this." He pulled a plastic evidence baggie from his coat pocket, a piece of paper no bigger than a business card inside, then handed it over. Hiwatari dutifully took it and began to scrutinize it.

"Yes, I can see why it confuses you. Officer?" The man Saehara had been angrily throttling earlier jumped at the address.

"Ye-ye-yessir?" The poor man was really no more than a child himself, new to the force, and frightened of the farfetched rumors of magic this supposed _'Phantom' _thief could do. Saehara snorted loudly at the stammering response.

Hiwatari continued. "Lend me your radio. I'm afraid I returned mine when I left my position, and I might need something that I can use to contact the entire force at once." He gave one of those small, enigmatic smiles of his. "You were right to call me in. Something doesn't feel right about this one, and as the one with the best knowledge of our quarry, I'll take over from here." He turned to leave, then stopped, waving the radio. "We'll be in touch." Then he disappeared into the trees, leaving him staring surprisedly after the boy.

A bright flash illuminated the dusk-darkened area, accompanied by muffled laughter.

"Takeshi! Get your ass down here! Dammit, you know I told you to stay at home!"

* * *

Daisuke jumped as Satoshi appeared near soundlessly beside his waiting spot at a nearby tree. He had never been able to hear Satoshi approach when he had been trying to catch him and Dark.

"We were right, Daisuke. Something _is_ wrong with this warning note." He held out the card in its baggie, pointing to the bottom right corner. "He didn't sign his name, and we both know Dark always did. After all, he enjoyed the fame, and wanted them to know it was him. And look at the handwriting; it's not Emiko's."

Here Daisuke nearly fell over in surprise, barely managing to catch himself on the trunk. "H-how did _you_ know my mother wrote the warning notes?"

Satoshi smiled without removing his eyes from the card. "I studied Dark's notes so many times I probably know them even better than he does. And I happen to know a little about handwriting, and the writing on Dark's notes were typically _female_. The only female known to actively work with Dark was Mrs. Niwa. But we're getting off topic." Blue locked with bright red, a worried cast shadowing their gaze.

"Daisuke, if it isn't Dark, how did this imposter know what to at least basically make the note look like? Only the police and I ever saw the notes after they were sent. We don't know it _isn't _Dark, just that this isn't exactly how he did things before."

"But, Satoshi! He isn't inside of me anymore. At least, I don't think he is. I can't reach him, and I don't feel him. And Krad isn't in you, right?"

Satoshi lowered his gaze thoughtfully, bowing his head and letting out his breath. "No, I don't believe Krad has returned to me, either."

"Then how can it be him?"

"I don't know, Daisuke, but it can't be just a coincidence, this happening so soon after that strange man breaking the Black Wing's seal. _Something_'s going to happen, so we should be ready to find out what. That way we can be better prepared to face whatever's going to happen next."

Daisuke didn't like it, but he agreed. He knew deep down that something was wrong, that they had to go find out. He also knew just as well that he wasn't going to like what they were going to find.

After the destruction of the Azumano Museum during the climactic battle between the two halves of the Black Wings, all the surviving artwork and historical artifacts had been temporarily relocated to various minor museums throughout the county until it could be rebuilt. Many of the Hikari artworks that had been stored there had been moved to the structure in front of which the police and innumerable media crews had now assembled, the Museum of Aesthetic Art. It was a small place at the edge of Azumano County, in the busier area nearest to the big cities. The walls were clean and whitewashed, but with a boring, downtrodden appearance. A small, forested area surrounded the MAA, little more than a circular strip of wooded, grassy land that served to screen the sterile seeming building from the busy highway that ran beside it.

Inside, Satoshi was doing his best to work with what little security the old museum had, which wasn't much. In all of its 50 years of displaying artistic history, it hadn't had so much as teenage defilement, let alone a threat on its contents. But he didn't need to worry about any broad threat, but a very narrow one. If it turned out this was only some childish prank, which was highly improbable, it really didn't matter in the least to him. He only cared if it turned out to be a legitimate threat, and he knew only too well how to handle it if it was. The Thousand Tears' Shine had been isolated from the other exhibits in a room to itself. The room had only one door, and he had set up a magical warning system that he had brought along, left over from a past attempt at catching the phantom thief, along with other trinkets and devices set in varied spots around the room in case they were needed.

Satoshi's face twitched, a ghost of a smile flickering across his lips. Only a year ago, he had been obsessively hunting down Dark, doing everything his oft-remarked genius could design to capture and apprehend the errant artwork. Now, here he was, setting up the same traps he had before, but this time in an attempt to see if the same person was in trouble and in possible need of his help.

Daisuke tapped his shoulder as the crystal pendant tuned to the warning system glowed red. Someone had broken the barrier. Silently, the two boys slipped out of the darkened security room, sneaking through the night's shadows toward the door of the room where the thief would be waiting, caught in the room that had only the one way out, the way they now blocked.

There, in the doorway, stood a lone figure, his stance one of confidence and refinement. Wings gracefully arced down from the back that faced them, the figure purposely standing where his body broke the threshold of the magical barrier, as if taunting them. But something was not quite right about the wings, the shade of black they looked to be was not dark enough to be truly black. It was more like the black of shadows upon…white.

"Surprised to see me, _Master_ Satoshi? Though I can no longer call you that anymore, can I? After all, you are no longer my tamer." Krad's mocking voice oozed sarcasm and derision. "I knew that you would come to such a set up as this. I lived inside your heart, inside your _mind_ for so very long. How could you resist such an interesting enigma as the reappearance of your arch-foe after so long? But, of course, you were aware it wasn't truly my weaker half this entire time."

"Krad. What are you doing here? You never had any need for your other brethren. Why steal the Thousand Tears' Shine?" Satoshi felt his anger and loathing of the parasitic artwork that had once plagued him return with startling suddenness. He bit off his words harshly as he spat them at the angelic monster.

"My dear Satoshi, after all this time we've been apart, this is how you greet your ex-partner? With malicious questions?" Krad laughed, his voice oily with false tenderness and hurt. He stepped forward, closing the few paces that had separated him from the two boys, and leaned in. "Why don't you ask what I know you to be truly wondering," he lowered his voice to a near whisper, "_How?_"

Satoshi merely stared at the white-clad man, matching the golden gaze. "You can't intimidate me, Krad. You should know that by now."

Krad's smile plummeted into a frown. "That may have been. But you'll find out soon enough that things have changed. For now it is _you_ who cannot intimidate _me_. You can no longer contain me!" He suddenly dodged around Satoshi to where Daisuke stood a few feet behind him, grabbing his shirt and pulling the shorter boy up to his eye level. But Satoshi was fast as well, and his hands shot out to catch Krad by his trailing blonde hair, and he yanked hard.

They stood this way in silence for a moment, Krad gripping the dangling Daisuke by the collar, Satoshi defiant with the golden length pulled taut in his hands against the other's head. Then the quiet was shattered, Krad's voice ringing out in peals of ecstatic laughter.

"And here I thought the great Commander Hiwatari had disgraced the Hikari name by associating with the dirty, thieving Niwa's." Krad turned his head to look at Satoshi the movement pulling back on his ponytail. "It seems that even though that may be true, you haven't lost your touch. This should indeed prove to be great fun." He let Daisuke drop to the floor, and tossed a snowy feather at Satoshi. He dodged, releasing his grip on the hair, and Krad laughed once more, flying on near-folded wings into the room and snatching the Thousand Tears' Shine.

"Don't even bother with the other traps you've set, Satoshi, I've seen them all and disabled all that useless work. I've gotten what I came for, so I'll tell you this now. You and I will be butting heads for quite some time to come now that you've allied yourself with those pesky thieves. My new master is very adamant about increasing his collection, and he's enlisted my help. I intend to see his wishes through, as I'm rather keen on collecting on his promise." He lifted another white feather. "Until we meet again."

Bright, pure white magic that reeked of evil flared through the night. When it died, Krad, with the Thousand Tears' Shine, was gone.

"Krad! Damn you!"

* * *

AN: So, did this surprise you, or was it a bit predictable? But don't you worry, there's more coming. The plot thickens in the next chapter, The Corinthian Mirror, whereTakeshi'spicture reveals a secret.

As always, please review!


	6. The Corinthian Mirror

AN: Hello again! Sorry I took longer than I promised, but my finals ended up being pretty hard, and now I've been preparing to walk on Thursday while at the same time clean the house before my grandmother gets here to watch. Anyway, as I promised, a chapter where Takeshi's camera proveds an important clue to a secret!

Chapter 6

The Corinthian Mirror

"Daisuke! Daisuke! I got the pictures! Look, look!" Takeshi came running up, shoving the screen of his digital camera in the redhead's face.

"Takeshi!" Daisuke leaned back, trying to get far enough away that his bright red eyes could focus on the screen that glowed brightly in the night.

"Saehara, why do you even try? You may have had the tip first, but by now those pictures are worthless."

"Yeah? And what would you know about it, Commander I'm-better-than-you?" Takeshi sneered at Satoshi's intervention, lowering the camera and allowing Daisuke to refocus his eyes.

"You see all those cameras and reporters? See those vans they're carefully packing their equipment into? Why do you think they're leaving? It's because they have already reported this story to thousands of households' televisions. This story is no longer new. Why do you bother taking pictures if the story will already be old news by the time you can get it to print?"

"Because I can get front row seats, which means pics with details _they_ can't get. Like these!" Once more, he shoved the camera at Daisuke, a picture now visible on the screen. "Dad got me this great zoom lens, so it's got awesome detail. Look! Bet no one else saw this!" His finger tapped the screen, leaving a smudged fingerprint, but Daisuke could still see what he had pointed to.

"You see! His wings! They're not black! They're white!"

"What?" Satoshi grabbed the camera from Takeshi's hands, and examined the picture. "You can't show this to anyone! No one can know that it wasn't Dark in there today! Do you understand me!"

"Hiwatari, are you crazy! Do you know what the papers will pay for pictures like this! Don't you understand? Everyone thinks it was Dark in there an hour ago, and only _I_ have the proof that _they're _wrong!" He stopped shouting as Satoshi suddenly pulled the screen close to his face.

"Satoshi? What's wrong?" Daisuke pushed Takeshi from in front of him, stepping beside Satoshi and looking at the camera he had pulled back again.

"Daisuke?" His voice was thoughtful, all trace of his former anger erased in the puzzle he now seemed to be trying to solve. "Do you see that? Right there at his neck."

Daisuke looked where Satoshi had indicated, seeing nothing but his white robes. Then he saw it; a patch of white brighter than the rest of it. "What is it? A reflection?"

"I think so." Daisuke watched as Satoshi manipulated the camera to zoom in on the bright spot. "It must be. Look." Around Krad's neck hung a thin silver chain, nearly hidden in the folds of his priest-like clothing. And dangling from the chain was palm-sized pendant that looked to be a mirror.

"But that still doesn't tell us what it is, Satoshi."

"I don't recognize it. We should have your father help us identify it. It might be in one of his books." Satoshi shut off the camera and he and Daisuke began heading back to the Niwa residence.

"Hey, my camera!"

Daisuke turned and smiled. "Sorry, Takeshi. I think he's taking your camera into evidence!"

* * *

"Welcome back, boys! How'd it go?" Emiko greeted them with false cheeriness, for all three Niwas, To-To, and Wiz had seen the broadcast. It had been right there on the screen, unmistakable and undeniable. It had been a winged figure that had escaped mere minutes after the eight o'clock deadline. But To-To wasn't so tactful.

"Was it Dark? Was it? It had to be! He had wings! Oooohhhh, if it was Dark why didn't he come home and say hello!" To-To had _poof_ed into her purple-pink bird form during her ranting, flying around their heads in her anxious excitement. She continued rambling without waiting for answers to her questions, only stopping when she collided beak first with an outstretched palm.

"Come on, To-To, you can at least let them in the door." Kosuke smiled down at the haggard looking Daisuke and Satoshi. "You two have a lot to tell us. And we're probably not going to like most of it."

* * *

Daisuke somehow managed to get the wires mixed up _again_, even though this should have been the only possible combination left. "Aaahh! Why can I crack complicated computerized locks but not be able to plug a digital camera into the television?"

A hand reached over his shoulder to switch the cable's plugs. "It's because you're worried. We didn't see Dark, but we know he must be out there somewhere. This red one goes in the input over here."

"So, Satoshi, it wasn't Dark, then?" Daiki asked.

"No. You wouldn't have been able to see it from the broadcasts, but Saehara's picture should give you as much information as we got." Daisuke had finished turning on the camera while Satoshi spoke, and brought the picture up on the television screen.

"Is that-?" Kosuke began, not needing to finish his question.

"It's Krad," Satoshi answered, "On his own, without me as his tamer."

"But how can that be?" Daiki asked, the only other person in the room beside the boys who had shared the experience of the position. "Both he and Dark needed a host body to exist in this world!"

"I don't know, Grandpa. But we do have one lead. Dad, what do you make of this?" Daisuke zoomed the camera's focus to the reflection they had noticed earlier.

Kosuke studied the screen thoughtfully, trying to see the charm, its proportions small even in the zoomed shot on the large screen. "It would help if Takeshi hadn't taken a full body shot, but I think I recognize it. I heard mention of something like this necklace during my travels while I was in Europe. It's a Hikari work called the Corinthian Mirror. But I don't know any more about it. I remember looking for information and clues to its powers, but I never found anything other than its name. Sorry, boys. I know that's not going to be much help."

"Not really. That was more help than you might think. That's twice now we've come across Hikari artworks with some connection to Europe. First the Bengal's Breath Brooch, and now this Corinthian Mirror." Daisuke stared in wonder at Satoshi, marveling at the deduction. He hadn't noticed that, and he doubted his family had either. This power of observation must have been why he was so good at the detective work needed to have kept such close tabs on him when he was with Dark.

"But now what do we do?" To-To asked, a little calmer now.

"Krad mentioned that he'd meet with us again. So for now, we wait, and see where he strikes next."

AN: Alright, so it didn't reveal much, but I did make you wait awhile, so I'll give you the next chapter, where the secret is explained, at least a little bit. As always, please review!


	7. Two Hours 'Til Tomorrow

AN: And here's chapter seven, clocking in atonly a littlebit longer. But I had fun with this chapter, so I hope you do too. As always, please R&R!

Chapter 7

Two Hours 'Til Tomorrow

For a while, it was…relatively quiet in the subject of Krad. There _had_ been more robberies, and Krad _had_ been behind them, but the museums and collections that the refugee artworks from the destroyed Azumano Museum had been moved to were small, and inclined to believe the notes that _had_ been left were merely practical jokes. After all, Dark had been gone for nearly a year. They soon found out how wrong they were. Meanwhile, Daisuke and Satoshi had yet to have any of the warning Krad had left them until they heard of it the next day on the local news channel. Until now.

The next warning note had arrived the day before, warning of a theft at 10 o'clock this night, and Satoshi had been working ever since then to keep the police out of it. They had figured out that it wasn't Dark who had stolen the Thousand Tears' Shine, and he now had to convince them to stay out of the action as they had with Dark, without telling them who was truly behind it. That would just create unnecessary problems and awkward questions. And the media was a different problem altogether. Contrary to what Takeshi had thought, a few of the news cameras had managed to spy the suspicious whiteness of this new thief's wings. To make matters worse, _someone_ had leaked news of the new warning to them.

This made Daisuke's job rather difficult.

The Niwas had decided after the last theft that Daisuke and Daiki should be the ones to set up for Krad this time around. After all, Krad had been with Satoshi every step of the way while he had hunted for Dark, and that meant he knew every one of his strategies to catch a phantom thief.

So here Daisuke was, sneaking around the Museum of Modern History the next city over, setting up what he thought he might need to protect the exhibit of rescued Hikari artworks. The idea was that Krad wouldn't know the schemes and ideas passed down to the Niwas, as they had come, not from him, but from Dark, so only Dark should know them. He finished adjusting the sensitivity of the lasers, turning it down. Common sense might have told any normal protector to _increase_ sensitivity so as to increase the chances of catching the nimble, graceful being that they were after. But being with Dark had taught Daisuke the value of being able to sneak up undetected behind the quarry, whether it be the guard he wished to knock senseless, or the man he wished to trap. Daisuke jumped when felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, hi! I was just admiring this wonderful piece of technology. I guess with this to guard your stuff, no one would ever be able to steal it!" He was laughing nervously when he noticed it was Daiki who had gripped him.

"Now if you truly thought that, Dai, you wouldn't be messing with it, now would you? Just be glad you're done; the security's rounds are heading this way."

"Right." The two of them began to casually walk around the museum pretending to be just any other ordinary museumgoer. It wasn't too difficult, as a lot of people had come to gawk at the future site of larceny. "Did you do it, Grandpa?"

"Yep!" The old man grinned manically. "Just because I'm old doesn't mean I've forgotten how to be the Phantom Thief!"

* * *

He looked at the reflection in the mirror, so close to his own, yet different in so many ways. The eyes of the reflected man looked back with resentment and pain. Both knew he would cooperate, as both knew the trump card he held and that he wouldn't hesitate to use it. The man in the reflection was in no position to fight back, though he would still obstruct them in anyway he could.

'Tell me what's going to happen tonight, what to expect from them. And if I find you've failed to mention anything…"

"I know, I know. Just make sure you keep your part of the 'bargain.'"

* * *

It was two hours until midnight, and Krad had shown himself, as promised by his warning note. Daisuke watched him from behind the concealing shadows, helped along by Wiz's shape changing covering. He was surprised, however, when he stopped without even touching the glass case enclosing the Hikari collection. Then Krad spoke without turning around.

"I know you are there, Daisuke Niwa. You and Dark's little rabbit can come out now. I also know that you've rigged this case to trap me if I touch it, and about all those wonderful little thieving tricks you have set up, outside and in." He looked up then to look directly into the hidden security cameras. "And dear Satoshi, I would appreciate it if you didn't think me such a fool that I wouldn't know these were fakes. After all, you never tried to pull that on Dark. I assume you've placed them where you could still keep an eye on them, like on yourself."

Krad crashed through the moonlit window of the display, leaving the forged art, and Daisuke, behind. But he and Wiz weren't ditched that easily, and followed him onto the rooftop. "Wiz, can you be wings for me? I know you can't do it for long, but we need to catch him!"

"Kyuu!" the rabbit-like creature responded, turning into his giant black-winged form. While Wiz did his best to attach himself to the running boy, Daisuke scampered and sprung nimbly across the tilted, shingled surface of the roof. Ahead, the shape of a pair of flapping white wings could be seen rushing about a small spire before swooping down towards the back of the building, heading for the window that opened into the security room, where Satoshi was stationed. Beating his new-formed black wings, Daisuke followed, wishing he was as accustomed to their use as Dark had been.

He rounded the spire and began down when something white came whizzing up to meet him. Daisuke began dodging the feathers wildly, trying to advance on Krad while at the same time avoid being speared by the projectiles. Relying on instincts, Daisuke reached out and caught a passing blur of white, ignoring the flash of pain in his fingers and palm as it sliced his flesh. Whirling around and diving at his white-winged opponent, he tossed the feather back toward its owner.

Krad saw too late what the boy had done. The feather ripped into his left shoulder, leaving a long, bloody gash, and he was knocked back in pain. By then, Niwa had crashed into him, throwing them both through another window into a new corridor. He wanted to blame _him_ for what had happened, but he knew that the two of them had always been rather adaptive and unpredictable when out of options. He righted himself before he hit the glass-strewn floor, Niwa performing a somersault in midair as his wings gave way beneath his lack of magic.

"Clever. It seems Dark underestimates his protégé."

"What?" the redhead asked, amusing confusion apparent on his face. But Krad was noticing something else.

"Ah, so _Commander_ Hiwatari _doesn't_ just sit back and watch a TV while a thief is at large." He addressed the shadowed form that emerged from a darkened egress and walked up to him.

"You won't get them this time, Krad. I have your target artworks right here with me, and I know _your_ fighting style as well as _you_ know _mine_.After all, how else would I know you would come here?" Krad merely smiled at his former…well, they had never been partners, more like…unwilling associates.

"I will never get them, Satoshi Hikari? It looks to me like I already have them!" He held out the two artworks he had pick-pocketed from him while he was talking. He took great amusement in the boy's surprised expression.

"Wha- how! Krad! What did you do!"

"Oh, nothing my not-so-better half hasn't done before. I'll be taking my leave now, Niwa, Hikari. Thank you for facilitating my easy departure by coming to meet me." He turned to head back out the window, but stopped at Satoshi's next words.

"Now, now, Krad. As you've said before, you know me. I'm not one to just let a thief go so easily. You see, Daisuke and I decided to try working together this time. We figured you might be able to sense where the artworks _really_ were, so we led you here to a place we had set up before hand, and you, like the greedy, power hungry monster you are came right into our hands. I've set up a magical barrier that won't allow you to leave here Krad, not while this remote is still intact." He held out a small magical device that he had fashioned from the radio he had taken from Saehara's man a few days ago.

Krad frowned, his only outward display of the flaring anger that now boiled inside him at being trapped. This couldn't be. It just couldn't, because _he_ hadn't warned him of it. Or could it? He had thought him to care too much about these fools to lie to him, but apparently he cared more about spite. But the frown slowly faded to a broad smile as he realized the fun this meant he could now have. He reached into his shirt and held up the black edged, mirrored pendant that had been inside it the whole time, the one that, though he didn't know it, had been captured by Takeshi's camera a few nights ago.

"Do you know what this is, Satoshi Hikari? You should, as it is one of your ancestors' more powerful pieces, though I know you don't know very much about your own legacy beside what you find in those books you love so much.

"This is the Corinthian Mirror."

AN: So, I hope your interest is piqued, because you're not going to want to miss the next chapter of Four Hearts: Through a Glass Darkly, in which I finally do a little bit of explaining! Please, REVIEW!


	8. Through a Glass Darkly

AN: Hello again! Chapter 8 is now up, and it finally has some explanations for you! But just so you don't get confused, the part in italics is a flashback to events that happened simultaneously to Chapter 4: Lost and Found. I don't think its too difficult to figure out, but just in case...

Well, you'll see for yourself, so here you go. And Congrats to Cheeky Doggie for figuring it out first!

Chapter 8

Through a Glass Darkly

"The Corinthian Mirror," Krad said, fingering the twisted black edging of the palm-sized mirror. "The name is said to stem from the book of 2 Corinthians of the Bible. 'For now we see as through a glass darkly,' though I doubt this is what the great Lord meant when he had his follower write those words." He laughed abrasively at his comment. "The Corinthian Mirror shows a dark reflection, the opposite spirit, of whomever the chain is placed around, though it is but an image when used by just any mere human. But when combined with someone who knows how to…_truly_ use its powers," Krad smiled, now twirling the dangling pendant, "It not only shows the image, but traps and holds the image's real life counterpart."

Golden eyes glittering with manic glee shifted attention Daisuke. "Tell me, Daisuke Niwa, do you know where my other half, Dark, is? Can you figure out where my 'dark reflection' is?"

"Do you mean…Dark's inside the Corinthian Mirror? What have you done to him, Krad!" Daisuke yelled.

"Ah, so you aren't as ignorant and naïve as you seem. Yes, Dark is in the mirror. But there is ever so much more to it than that, Niwa." Krad turned to face a late 1800's vanity mirror beside him on the wall. "Do you know that if you show the mirror to another, it, too, shows the image of the one trapped inside." He held the Corinthian Mirror aloft, and the other flashed in response, an image forming on its reflective surface. "May I present the ignominious fate of your dear Dark Mousey!"

"Dark!" Dark was now visible inside the mirror. Lines of black bound him, arms outstretched, to a surface of tangible darkness. His shirt was in tatters, hanging off him as mere rags, and a deep wound could be seen on his shoulder in the same area Krad had been wounded, crimson blood dripping from the gash. He looked drained and worn, as if he had no strength left. Though his eyelids drooped in exhaustion, his brightly violet eyes stared out from behind his tangled purple hair with concern and anger.

"Daisuke! You leave him out of this, Krad!"

"But of course, Dark. _After_ I follow through on our deal." Krad shot forward, grabbing Daisuke just under the chin and slamming him against the wall, Daisuke's hands struggling at his grip as he shouted, "I told you, Dark, that if you failed me, I would hurt the ones you cared about!"

"Daisuke! Krad, I couldn't have known! Krad!"

"KRAD!" Satoshi rushed forward, a large knife from a nearby display held determinedly in his hand. He charged at the evil angel, stabbing the right side of his chest as Krad failed to release his grip to block.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!" The cry of pain reverberated through the night-shrouded hallway, but it hadn't come from Krad. His pale-skinned face was split in another maddening smile, and he still held Daisuke against the wall by the throat. One strong hand reached down the where Satoshi held the knife, his hand enveloping Satoshi's slender one as he pulled out the weapon, at the same time throwing the boy across the room. The device controlling his magical barrier shattered as he landed hard on the stone floor atop the pocket holding it. The air about the hallway shimmered at the edge of vision as the magic faltered and died, leaving Krad's escape route open.

"Nice try, my former tamer, but this doesn't concern you right now. It is between me, Dark, and the one he holds closest!" He gestured at his chest, where the wound was quickly disappearing to leave whole, unmarred skin.

"K-Krad…" Satoshi stammered, pushing himself up from the floor noticing that the shoulder wound he had had before had vanished, as well, "How?" Krad's smile simply widened, and he pointed with the bloody knife to the mirror on the wall.

"See for yourself." Blue eyes sought the purple ones behind the glass, but found them shut tight in pain. In Dark's chest was slash of bloody red, a stab wound that steadily grew to the size Krad's had been as Krad's rapidly shrunk.

"What have you done to him, Krad?"

* * *

Dark watched through a pain-induced haze as the scene unfolded on the other side of the magical window before him. Around him, purple swirled with black in a fathomless eternity of darkness that formed his prison. Outside, Krad explained in his falsely polite, elitist way what had happened once the Black Wing's seal had been broken. As he talked the memories came back vividly.

_He awoke after the searing pain of the seal's breaking, confused and dazed as he found himself prone on the floor. He had discovered that whatever had happened back in the red-lit room had left him sluggish, slow, and battered. He surmised that his strength, and probably the others' as well, had been drained to shatter the seal. Krad knelt beside him, his clothes looking as battered as _he_ felt, but the man himself seemingly refreshed._

_He tried to push himself up from the floor, only to find he was too weak. "Krad, you'd better tell me what the **hell** is going on, or I'll-" he stopped as the other pulled his head up by a long clump of hair._

"_Or you'll what, Dark? Seems to me you can't so much as sit up, while I, thanks to a generous spell from Master Luce, am completely refreshed."_

"_What are you talk- ahh!" Krad pulled harder, laughing._

"_As you might be aware, we have been released from your ill-conceived seal. And Master Luce has promised me my greatest wish, and great power, too. In exchange, I simply have to…_retrieve_ a few items for him. Problem is, it seems you are needed for both. For the latter matter, it was always _you_ who was the thief, and I'll need that expertise to get my hands on those certain items. As for the other part…well, _**someone**_'s life force must sustain me until I get a body of my own, as promised. And this time, it won't be a Hikari." Krad let a mirrored pendant slip down from his other hand to dangle it in his face. Dark mulled over his words as he studied the piece before his eyes, a small mirror edged in black stone carved like twisting, thorny vines._

"_If _**you're**_ involved, Krad, it can't be good. So why the hell should I help _**you**_?" he sneered, wondering why Krad was showing this to him._

"_Because, Dark Mousey, you really don't have much of a choice." A man he hadn't noticed before stepped forward, his shadow in the dim room engulfing Dark's form though he was a thin, willowy man. "I had heard that one half of the Black Wings had a rather outdated and frustrating sense of morality, besides the thieving, of course. Which is why my offer was extended to your fellow 'wing mate,' Krad. I knew you would need to be coerced into cooperation, so I tell you this." He leaned down and placed a hand on Dark's heart, which was now racing wildly at the danger he sensed was coming. Then the man whispered by his face._

"_I know how to hurt you, Dark, how to break your will to fight. I need you to go inside the Corinthian Mirror and not fight it until the binding spell is complete. If you don't do so… I'll hurt those pathetic thieves that thought themselves your family."_

_Dark summoned all his remaining strength in anger and seized the man by the shirt. "You leave them out of this, whatever this is! You hear me!" But the man merely turned his gaze to Krad._

"_Krad, I believe I told you where I left those two boys unconscious. It hasn't been long enough for the Niwas to yet have found their son and his friend. Let us show our dear friend Dark how serious we are about this." Krad smiled wider and began to walk off, but the man, presumably Master Luce, must have felt his heart stop, for he looked back at Dark's slackening grip._

"_Unless, of course, you have decided to cooperated with us. I suppose I _**could**_ force you, but magic always does work better when the participants are willing." Dark looked away, pain in his eyes as he thudded to the floor after releasing him. "Good man." The mirrored pendant was produced once more, and the man watched with a cold smile as Krad placed the chain about his neck._

_With a yell, he felt as if he was jerked bodily from the floor, and with surprising suddenness, he realized he had closed his eyes, opening them to find only darkness meeting his gaze. In front of him opened a bright window in the violet and navy swirled black that stretched for eternity around him. At the same time, the dark solidified behind him, tendrils of it lashing out to bind him with surprising alacrity. Out of sheer instinct, he began to fight back, calling whatever pitiful scraps of magic he could still summon against it._

"_Remember our bargain, Dark!" Luce's voice shouted from behind the window to the real world, "Your friends only live, not through my mercy, but on my honoring of our deal. Break that deal by fighting back right now…and I'll break them!" Dark glared at the man's face through the transparent barrier, but sagged against the tightening bonds. Soon, he was unable to move or fight back, even if he had wanted to._

_Krad's face now appeared in front of him. "By the way, Dark, don't forget what else _**I**_ said. I need to get those artworks, and I can handle that if my old partner handles the investigations. But should those thieves you tried to protect intrude with any of _**your**_ wonderful methods, I'm going to need to know what to expect. I need to know what they will do, how to counter it, how to not get caught. I believe you can imagine what Master Luce and I will do to them if you fail us." Dark began struggling against the shadowy bonds, now trying to get to Krad, but the spell had him too tightly now to break free. "Haven't you figured it out yet, Dark? These are not negotiations, but terms of survival. _**Their**_ survival."_

* * *

Krad was still strangling Daisuke against the wall, having finished his explanation. He hadn't pushed very hard, just enough to show he was a threat, but light enough the poor fool would remain conscious for his monologue. His ex-partner had maintained his distance, fearing to provoke him further. He let the silence stretch on for a moment longer before turning his golden gaze back to the mirror with Dark inside.

"I will let you off this time, Dark. Perhaps you couldn't have known. I certainly never would have guessed our two ex-tamers might work together. I have all I need for Master Luce, so I'm inclined to let your friend go in the interest of getting my reward sooner." He let the choking redhead go, the boy's limp form sliding down the wall as he finally slipped into unconsciousness. Wiping the larger mirror clean of his other's image, he said one last thing to the Hikari boy.

"Do not expect Dark to be able escape and help you stop whatever Master Luce has planned. I expect that his little outburst just now took about all the strength he could manage. After all, the mirror allows me to sustain my strength and physical form through him, sapping his energy for my use and swapping my injuries to him. I am invincible, unless of course, you destroy the mirror, and Dark inside it."

With a final smirk, Krad ran off through the museum hallways, the Corinthian Mirror and his new acquisitions in tow, leaving the blue haired boy to forget the chase and care for his fallen friend.

"Daisuke!" He began to stir, grabbing his head with a soft moan. Wiz ran up to him to cuddle into his neck. "Daisuke, Saehara's men will be here soon. He would only wait so long before trying to catch him himself. I've learned from experience that it's best to be far away from the scene when he finds out I've failed in my capture."

Still rubbing his head to clear it, Daisuke responded, "Yeah, but how do we get out without the reporters seeing us and asking questions? I don't think it would be wise to do it Dark's way and leave on feathered wings. We are trying to keep this quiet. Huh?" The weight on his shoulder had lifted, and he found that Wiz was gone. Instead, next to him squatted a perfect replica of Satoshi.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but there is no new information to report at this time about the thefts." A perfect imitation of Satoshi's cool, near-monotone voice issued from a smiling clone, compliments of Wiz.

"Well," the real Satoshi replied, nonplussed by the unflatteringly accurate clone as he pushed his glasses up his nose, "I guess that would constitute a rather good diversion for escape." Soon, the two of them were escaping out an empty back exit while 'Commander Hiwatari' intercepted the curious reporters.

AN: So maybe it wasn't too unexpected, at least to a certain doggie, but that's how it goes. As always, please review, and come back next time for Chapter 9: Betrayal, where Krad gets a big surprise...


	9. Humorless Smile

AN: Please forgive my long absence. I've recently moved into an apartment. Which meant quite a while of packing, unpacking, and figuring things out. Then of course I had to find a new internet service. I just got it a week ago, but that was right as classes started. BUt anyway, here you go.

Chapter 9

Humorless Smile

The light of the bright moon drifted lazily in through the bedroom window and played sleepily with the surreal shadows it cast across the uneven surface of the carpeted floor. Above this, Daisuke absently stroked the sleeping Wiz and looked instead at his painting, which had been hung on the wall where it was easily visible at his top bunk perch. The moonlight seemed to sink into the dark colors and curves, the red streak, so striking before, now horribly reminiscent of the blood that had mere hours ago wet the silhouette's real life counterpart.

"What now, Dark? We have to stop whoever it is that Krad is working for, but right now it seems like we can only do that by destroying you. I could really use your help this time, Dark." He shut his eyes against the exhaustion of the day, one solitary tear falling down his cheek.

The next morning, Daisuke was woken from his fitful sleep by the discordant jangle of the telephone. Groggily, he pulled his pants and shirt on, looking in the bathroom mirror with eyes as red as his irises as he tried to tie his tie. He suddenly realized that perhaps his school uniform wasn't what he wanted to be wearing during Christmas break. He waited for the laughing, mocking comment that Dark was sure to make about his somnambulant slip-up, then he remembered. Hastily throwing on a loose grey and white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of soft blue pants, Daisuke hurried down the stairs. Emiko was on the phone, giggling and chatting like a young school girl. He smiled at her and she waved at him, mouthing that it was Riku on the other end.

"He's just walked in, Riku. Here you go, Daisuke! But I want you at breakfast in 15 minutes, so you two lovebirds don't talk for too long now, 'kay?"

"Moom!" he moaned, taking the phone from her. She merely winked and headed into the kitchen. He turned his attention to the telephone, his cheeks burning. "Hello, Riku? What's up?"

"Daisuke? So, you're finally up, sleepy-head."

"It's only a little after 8! And I had a long night last night."

"Yeah, I kinda figured you would've."

Daisuke's eyes widened a bit at the statement, and he gave the phone an incredulous stare before remembering that she couldn't see him and spoke. "Y-you did? Why?"

"Well, duh, Niwa, Don't you remember that Risa and I know about your and Satoshi's little secret? We saw it last year." Her voice was chastising, but still kind as she recalled the painful memories. He blushed even harder.

"Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry."

"Well, we also saw Hiwatari on TV last night. We just figured out for ourselves that you would be there too."

"Oh."

"Careful, Daisuke, you'll become a broken record."

"I'm sorry, Riku! I mean, uh-"

"You're still the same as you always were, Daisuke. So simple and pure!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!" He shouted at the phone, than stopped when he heard three female voices laughing. "Mom! To-to! Stop listening in on me!"

"Ooooh! Miss Emiko, he figured us out!" To-to shrieked into the other phone, forcing him to hold his receiver away from his ear. Then Emiko cut in with, "Yes, well, I don't suppose it was too hard with us laughing at him into the microphone."

"Mom!"

"Anyway, Daisuke, there was a reason I called you. I was at the college building about an hour ago doing some research for that project, and this guy at one of the reference desks stopped me. He said that last night your dad requested some books about some stuff and would I give them to you. Beats me how he knew that I knew you guys. Maybe he saw us together around town, or something." Daisuke idly wondered if his cheeks would ever go back to being peach instead of pink. "Anyway, I'll be by your house in about half an hour. See you then, okay?"

"Uh, sure." Emiko added her agreement from the other receiver. "Bye, Riku."

Krad was in a bad mood.

Those stupid kids, how dare they almost catch him! And what was worse, they were making him think such vile things. For a while he was sure he knew exactly what it felt like to be Dark when he or that Hikari brat managed to corner him. He spun around and smashed his palm into the mirror that was currently reflecting Dark's image from the Corinthian Mirror, not quite hard enough to shatter it.

"What's the matter, Krad? What did I do now?" Dark sneered from behind the glassy surface, irritatingly cocky and demeaning, especially when he should have been nothing but an empty shell shadowed with despair.

"You got into my head, that's what! You vile, disgustingly sentimental, lesser half infiltrated my thoughts and defiled my mind!"

"Well, well Krad. It seems you've gotten soft if I can affect you that much without even doing anything!" Dark quipped.

"So, it seems the infamous art thief can still smile, even after all we've put him through. Perhaps I should tell Daisuke Niwa you aren't worried about him enough that you can't spare time to mock your other half?" Luce walked into the room, taking in the scene going on in the secret room of the library's basement. He smiled, knowing that no one would ever suspect such a brightly lit room might exist hidden among all the dingy, dusty storerooms and disused study areas, no one would think that down here might be a white walled room with a lone, long white table holding all of the stolen treasures of the past few days placed in careless disarray. And yet here they were, complete with the two most sought after artworks themselves, one as white as the room seemingly about to kill the other. "Careful, Krad. If you destroy the mirror, you destroy what's inside, mainly the thief. And then where would you draw your energy from?"

"Don't overreact. That's only if I break the Corinthian Mirror, not any other ones."

"Still, we wouldn't want one half of the team having seven years bad luck. Not when I'm about to set the next part of my plan into motion." Luce strode across to the white clad man now leaning against the wall, and began playing with his long blonde ponytail and the cross shaped pendant tied on it, stroking the strands with an odd smile on his face. Dark snorted at the disgusted look on Krad's face, and Krad in turn yanked the flaxen rope from his hands. Luce merely shrugged and stuck his hands into his black suit pockets. "Aren't we in a bad mood, white angel." And he was about to be in a much worse one. "I merely wished to comfort you before you went."

"What? What does that mean, _Master_ Luce? I don't plan on going anywhere until you keep your end of the bargain. I want a body that is my own, without any ties to anyone, especially this pathetic excuse for an other half." By now, Krad was facing the disturbing smile of the other man, anger apparent on his face. He was in no mood to be messed with right now. Luce, however, was not intimidated, just the opposite. Golden eyes narrowed as violet ones disappeared into a mirthful laugh with an undertone sinister enough to match even Krad's own.

"Do you expect me to break my promise, Krad? That would be most silly of you, seeing as our plan has counted on Dark here trusting my word on the safety of his loved ones." The laughter died down in the shorter, black haired man as he bowed his head slightly against the onslaught. "Please, Krad, best not to joke like that again. I would rather not give away this little hiding place merely because you require some merriment." He lifted his head slightly, opening his bright eyes to peer intensely at Krad above his humorless smile. "But as I've said, I keep my promises. Though perhaps not always how you think."

Riku finally arrived at the Niwas' home about an hour and a half late. First she had remembered that she had forgotten her notebook with all of her project research at the library. Then, she couldn't find it where she had left it and had to spend fifteen minutes looking for and through the Lost and Found. When she finally got to the house to drop off her bag, Risa had needed help with something or other, she couldn't even remember what now. Silly Risa had distracted her for so long that Riku had finally looked up for a minute and seen exactly what time it was. Well, it didn't matter now, she was here, and the Niwas were busily looking through the thick pile of books the librarian had given her for them.

Riku decided that, since she didn't know what the guys were looking for, the women would all fix lunch, even if it was two hours away. She, Mrs. Niwa, and To-to talked and laughed as they fixed the food while Daisuke, Satoshi, and both Mr. Niwas sifted through the pile. The doorbell rang, startling Riku, and she smacked her head on the top of the fridge where she was putting the butter back.

"Oh, could you get that, Riku?" called Mrs. Niwa, "To-to and I are both up to our elbows in flour."

"Sure!" But Riku stopped when To-to started protesting.

"But Ms. Emiko! What if it's-"

"Oh, it'll be alright! What could possibly happen from opening the door!" Mrs. Niwa seemed to be trying to step on To-to's foot, but Riku figured she must have been seeing it wrong. Why would she be trying to do that?

"Really, it's okay. I'll get, To-to." She headed for the door, slightly confused by the exchange. When she got to the door, she was startled once again. "Oh, uh, hi! You're…you're the librarian from this morning, right?"

"Actually, I'm not really a librarian. I'm one of the art professors at the college. I help at the library part time," the man said, brushing shoulder-length black hair away from brightly violet eyes and ending with an enigmatic smile.

"Oh, so, why are you here?" Riku suddenly realized that sounded a bit rude, and her eyes widened in time to the blush that spread across her cheeks.

"It's okay, miss, I know what you meant. Actually, I'm here because I found one more book I thought might be useful for your friends, and since I didn't have much else to do at the moment, I thought I might drop it by." The humorless, enigmatic smile continued, and something about it sat wrong with Riku. She looked down, idly wondering how he had found Daisuke's house, and noticed a mirrored pendant he had on a chain about his neck. It was a palm-sized mirror, edged in vines of black stone, odd and out of place with his black, clean cut suit. Then the man shifted slightly, and she saw that a second one just like it hung beneath it. _Curiouser and curiouser_, Riku quoted.

"Well, thanks, they've been working really hard at…whatever it is. Why don't you come in and give it them? We can get you a drink or something for your troubles, Mr.…uh?"

"Mr. Luce. And, thank you, miss. That sounds great. I think I will."

AN: And if this were an episode of the show, this would either be a commercial break or the end of the episode. As it is, its just the end of the chapter.


	10. Betrayal

AN: Janika asked me about the spelling of Wiz. If you've only seen the anime, they spell it as they say it, With. But I based alot of my facts and spellings on the manga, as it was the original. There it was spelled as 'Wiz', and I've heard that its pronounced the same way.

Chapter 10

Betrayal

Luce gently fingered the Portal of Art as he waited for the girl to invite him in. After a little idle chat, she eventually did, and all the pieces began falling into place. His average-looking face crinkled as his violet eyes disappeared in another humorless smile. He noticed the girl looking at his chest, and hastily shoved the two Corinthian Mirrors inside his coat front.

After all, it wouldn't do for those two to let slip something was wrong before his plan was carried out. Yes, so far everything had worked out perfectly, especially his betrayal of Krad.

_Luce pulled on his hair, an odd smile on his face. The man twirled it through his fingers, stroked the cross. Beside him, a snort sounded from behind the wall mirror, and Krad yanked his hair way from him before Dark could get any more pleasure out of his discomfort. The man seemed to almost have done it purely to upset him._

"_Aren't we in a bad mood, white angel. I merely wished to comfort you before you went." Krad wondered what Luce meant by this, and said so, his anger already piqued by earlier events, and even more so by the unwanted contact. That the man laughed at him merely made it worse. But something about the way Luce was moving seemed wrong, he was much too confident for a mere human confronting someone as superior as an artwork like him. Krad watched the lean, average looking man carefully, finding himself backing away slightly as he looked up at him through his hair, a hand in his suit pocket._ _"But as I've said, I keep my promises. Though perhaps not always how you think."_

_Luce reached over to the table that held all of Krad's conquests, the stolen Hikari pieces, grabbing a pearlescent tear-shaped pendant, the Thousand Tear's Shine, and a small, swirling, abstract sculpture, the Portal of Art. The shorter man looked back at him, smiling as ever. "The two artworks that will help advance the next part of my plan. But I wonder, do you know what four I used for this part?" Krad stared at the average looking man, seemingly so innocuous if not for his smile, and felt uneasy at the statement. How could there be four? All he knew about was the Corinthian Mirror._

"_Huh, you're as crazy as that pathetic fool Hiwatari," Krad sneered at his master, still finding himself intrigued._

"_Perhaps, but that is not always a bad thing, now is it? I assume you know about the Corinthian Mirror already," Luce nodded to the piece about his neck, "but perhaps you didn't realize that the other three are you two lovely pieces of the Black Wings and my **second** Corinthian Mirror!" The man was suddenly in Krad's face, pressing one finger to the Corinthian Mirror about him, then he vanished._

"_Luce! What have you done, foolish human!" Krad shouted, spinning to look around the room, his white wings thrashing about in rage and knocking the wall mirror from its perch and the stolen pieces from the table with a loud crash._

"_**Now, now, Krad. I thought I already told you that I didn't want you stuck with those seven years' bad luck."** Krad started as Luce's voice came from the mirror hanging at his chest. He was about to speak when another voice interrupted him._

"_What the hell are you doing? Get off of me!" Dark's incensed shout emanated from the mirror as well. Then he felt something, something he knew he wasn't going to like. A tugging sensation lifted him from the floor, and Krad opened his eyes to find himself inside the world of the Corinthian Mirror. Strings of corporeal black darkness shot out to bind him as he had seen done to Dark, as he could see about Dark now. Beside him, Luce stood on the nothingness of the space, one hand still holding a second Corinthian Mirror he had just placed about Dark's neck. And no matter how hard Krad fought it, he couldn't free himself. _

"_Now technically this second mirror is actually part of a set of two, the sister artwork to the Corinthian Mirror," Luce spoke from behind Dark, his voice sounding as if he was merely thinking aloud to himself, "But its true name was lost quite a while ago, and as long as they have the same function, why not the same name?" He was silent a moment longer, then appeared to finally have noticed Krad's presence, though he kept his eyes on the man before him._

"_You two have no idea how much you've helped me," Luce said, gently stroking Dark's cheek and hair, Dark in turn jerked away with a grimace. "Something so simple as a piece of art, and yet so marvelously helpful. I almost feel ashamed for using you two. Almost." He turned to face Krad as he struggled to get free, still fondling the other as one might a precious gem. "You know, you can't get away, no matter how hard you fight it."_

"_But you told Dark he couldn't fight it!" Krad shouted, surging forward against the bonds and being unceremoniously pulled back again._

_Luce laughed, this one as sinister as the last, though with a little glee this time. "Really, you don't understand, and here I thought you were intelligent. Perhaps I should explain. I believe by now you've figured out that I had ulterior motives for everything I've done so far." He glanced over at Krad, bright violet eyes matching the narrowed ones of the captured man he stood next to. "Though I can't figure out how you didn't know I was lying to you. Words, that's all it was. The mirror doesn't give a damn whether or not you fight it; once it gets a hold of you, you don't come out. I merely said that for the emotions it would induce."_

"_What are you talking about?" Dark demanded, still trying to pull away from his stroking fingers._

"_I'm talking about wonderful, sweet, **powerful** emotions. Don't you see?" The ubiquitous smile broadened as he leaned in closer to whisper into Dark's ear. "That's what this is all about." He pulled back to sweep his arms across the entirety of the empty void. "All of this is about emotions. Mainly yours. I told you not to fight it, Dark, because it made my threat seem like it had a point. Other than its true one, that is. You see, everything I've done has been to evoke the most of all your deepest, most powerful emotions in the shortest amount of time. Hence the threats to that charming family of yours. Such wonderful hate and fear burned in your eyes when I threatened them."_

_Luce came over to Krad now and began toying with the Mirror about **his** neck. "Oh, Krad, I'm afraid to say that Dark has helped me ever so much more than you. He's a lot more human than you, you see. Such a broad spectrum of emotions, fear, happiness, love, friendship, whereas you… you display only arrogance, hate and anger. I must admit, though, those can be the strongest of all, except perhaps fear. But, as I've said, Dark was already taking care of those._

"_And those wonderful other sides of yourselves, Satoshi Hikari and Daisuke Niwa. Yes, believe it or not, they're a big piece to this puzzle, as well. Four hearts, each all bound together by those same emotions I've been seeking. Four hearts bound in such interesting, intricate ways, yes, it's almost a puzzle in itself. So many emotions, so many bonds; the ties between friends and between those forced to share the body's temple, the ties of two halves forever split, the pull between a cat and a mouse, even the utter loathing of one for the enemy's helper. (1) And so many dark reflections._

"_You know, I could have just as easily placed my two mirrors about your former hosts. The Corinthian Mirror doesn't have set criteria for what constitutes 'dark.' It's more like the one it reflects from sets the criteria. Place it about innocent, sweet little Daisuke and it will take you, Dark, his cocky, egotistical, goth-colored alter-ego. Or place it about the emotionally repressed, boy-genius Satoshi Hikari, and in would go you, Krad, the perpetually angry, hateful, spiteful hunter of his friend. Krad perceives Dark as the weaker half, the pathetic thief, the black sheep, which is why Dark here became stuck when Krad donned the mirror. And when I placed the mirror about Dark's neck, the one he perceives as the evil, vengeful, infectious version of himself, Krad, joined him. In other words, what the wearer sees as 'dark,' whether it be the benign dark of comforting shade or the cancerous dark of nightmarish shadows, that determines who the mirror takes in." Then Luce was quiet for a while, his speech done as he slipped the Corinthian Mirror from Krad's neck. "By the way, it's just as I've said, the captivity is permanent; removing the mirror from the 'light side' won't release its prisoners."_

"_Why?" Luce's violet eyes met their twins in Dark's, one sparkling with ambition and drive, one with anger._

"_Why, Dark? Why what?"_

"_Why the monologue? Why tell us all this?"_

_Luce began laughing merrily as he headed back to Dark and leaned in to stare him in the face, tapping a finger against his chest, at his heart. "Because of this. I thought I told you that. Being told you've been used tends to make most people angry. As will this." He pulled out a knife and cut Dark across the cheek, blood flowing down the knife as smoothly as the wound healed. "You're drawing on Krad's strength now, and he on yours, a never ending loop, and I've just started a little chain reaction." He wiped the blood off of Dark's cheek as the cut appeared on Krad, healed, then reappeared on Dark once more. "So you'll have to excuse me. It means I only have a limited amount of time to get the other two of the four hearts where I need them before the reaction reaches the breaking point. So long." He removed Dark's Mirror and pulled the Portal of Art out of his pocket, then opened a way back to the real world._

"_What is it that you're trying to do, Luce? What do you need them, and us, for?" Dark shouted at his retreating back._

"_Now, now Dark. I've already answered 'why,' so you'll just have to wait for 'what' a little bit longer. But don't worry; it's only until I get back. And thanks for your help, it was ever so kind of you." And with that, the portal closed, taking Luce with it and leaving the two halves of the Black Wings staring at each other from across the infinite void of the Corinthian Mirror._

In the living room, the father and grandfather were busily searching through the books he had searched out for them earlier. Luce resisted the urge to smile, for once, trying to repress the mirth he felt. They wouldn't find anything, he was sure of it. After all, he had hand picked those specifically to tantalizingly hint at but reveal nothing.

Besides, how could they possibly hope to understand anything that had led up to this? There was so much more to the story than just these two halves and their hosts. But what they didn't know couldn't hurt them, only their cause.

Patiently, he waited for the two boys to come downstairs. Then the final part of his plan could begin.

AN: So, chapter 11 is already nearing completion, thanks to me having no internet. Its called "Emotional Response," at least for right now. Hopefully, it won't take as long next time. Oh, and you can now check me out on my deviantart account: www.pleasureofadream. 


	11. Emotional Response

AN: I told you last time that I was almost done with this chapter and that it would be up soon. I lied, because this definitely isn't soon. I apologize, though I do have a good reason: I got the flu. That and I hate this chapter. I rewrote it three times. It still seems sudden and awkward to me, but I couldn't fix it anymore, so I decided to leave well enough alone before I made it worse.

Chapter 11

Emotional Response

They emerged from the back room dirtier than before, Satoshi rubbing his glasses and Daisuke swatting his shirt hems in only slightly effective attempts to remove the coating of dust, dislodged as they replaced a few of Kosuke's old informational tomes. Unfortunately, none of them had been helpful in their search for what Krad and his new master could possibly be up to. But as they entered the living room, the two stopped at the sight of the violet-eyed man conversing politely with Riku. He looked over at them, and the slight narrowing of his eyes showed he had noticed their recognition.

"_Luce_." Satoshi's voice was even colder than his stare. Daiki and Kosuke looked up at him, then followed his eyes to the newcomer, but the man merely smiled his same humorless smile as he locked with the boy's icy gaze. Something in his eyes sat wrong with him, expressed a dangerous sense of smug satisfaction. "What are you doing here? Has Krad turned against you now, too?"

A puzzling but genuine rumble of mirth escaped Luce as he sidestepped a confused Riku to come closer to the boys and pulled a small abstract sculpture from his coat. "Me? No. But was that anger, dare I say_ hatred_, I heard just now? Could it possibly be because you _care_ about what I've done to that tousle-haired thief? I would have that his protégé would have shown the most outrage." Daisuke flushed, his face suffused with anger at his mockingly confused, noncommittal words. "But I guess that just makes it easier for me to break that wonderful fighting spirit of his when he hears that his own family has forsaken him. I'll be leaving then." The strange sculpture he held suddenly twisted grotesquely in his hand, and a shadowy portal appeared around him, his smile and smug, knowing look vanishing last.

By now Daiki and Kosuke had grasped the situation and headed toward the escaping man. But Daisuke and Satoshi, their anger and concern flared by the carefully placed words, had no chairs and tables to dodge, and they lunged at the darkness first, disappearing into its depths. Behind them, the portal immediately closed, seeming to collapse into itself, leaving only the empty living room behind them.

Luce allowed the Portal of Art to envelope him, watching the faces of his other two hearts as he stirred the stew of emotions he had been brewing inside them. He let them do the work for him, let their anger and concern fuel them on into his portal, and all he had to do was wait, wait for them to follow him, and absorb the precious emotions.

He didn't have to wait very long. Mere moments after his entry to this realm of dark-streaked black, just enough time to cross a room, he imagined, the two began coming through his rapidly shrinking portal. Without even waiting for them to finish their entry, Luce turned to slowly walk across the nonexistent floor toward the dark dimension's depths.

"I told you I'd be back. I hope you didn't miss me while I was away." By now, the boys had arrived, but he continued forward, ignoring them as he pulled the two mirrors over his neck, along with the Thousand Tears' Shine. He felt their confusion at his statement seemingly addressed to the black as the Shine absorbed the emotions' power.

"_Luce-"_ Satoshi Hikari began, his voice carrying an amusing tone of warning, before he was interrupted by Daisuke Niwa.

"Satoshi. Something's not right. What are those?"

Luce smiled. He knew what must be bothering them, but he remained silent. They would find out as they continued their inspection of this world, and he savored their shock at the scene he knew to greet them. What had been two indistinct dark hazes where they had entered had now revealed what they truly were. Facing each other across the black space, their opposite hearts hung limply, bound arms-outstretched and heads limp. Just under the right cheekbone on each flared and receded a bloody gash, the constant healing and reopening leaving an intermittent trail of blood weeping from the wound.

"Forgive them if they don't say 'hello.' Constantly healing and being healed has put them in a weakened, near-unconscious state, as well as starting a chain reaction that will allow me to use them as I need. And as you can probably guess, I've used the Portal of Art to transport us inside the world of the Corinthian Mirrors. And no, Krad didn't betray _me_, Satoshi, _I_ betrayed _him._ Though I still plan on keeping my promise." He began to move forward again, towards another shadowy shape, a dark, vaguely humanoid statue.

"Wait! What does that mean? Why bring us here?" Daisuke asked, tearing his eyes away from his tortured friend to look at his captor.

Luce laughed. "You sound just like him, you know. But I've already answered 'why,' and I promised them I'd explain 'what' just as soon as I got back." Here he turned to face them now, and held up the pearlesent Thousand Tears' Shine. "What this is is an artwork capable of absorbing and storing all the emotions around it, the very emotions I've been evoking from them all this time, a physical representation of the heart of your relationships to each other." He held up the mirrors. "What these are are artworks that seek out the darker side of one to show it for all to see within." He backed up until he was right before the statue, laying one mirror across his palm, placing the Thousand Tears' Shine atop its glassy surface, covering it with the second mirror. Slowly, he began pressing down on the top of his pile, as if intending to crush the piece inside. "What happens when then the heart of this matter is crushed from both sides with darkness? The heart is shattered into chaos, the chaos covers the darkness." He spun back around, placing his metaphorical sandwich against the heart of the statue, as he had done with the feathers against the Black Wings. "And now that you two are here, you'll provide the final blast of emotions I need to brings my masterpiece to life!"

Daisuke didn't understand what Luce was talking about, but all his time sharing the mind of a phantom thief had taught him to trust his instincts. And right now he felt that this did not bode well. What Krad had said came rushing back to him: _"I am invincible, unless of course, you destroy the mirror, and Dark inside it." _He knew what he had to do.

He ran forward, rushing at Luce as the glass surfaces of the mirrors began to crack beneath his hands. A bright light poured out from the spreading cracks, pulsing with the absolute darkness that sprang up from the slowly shattering Thousand Tears' Shine.

"Daisuke! No!" Satoshi cried, beginning to come forward himself, but stopping in the glare.

"Stop! You're going to kill Dark!" Daisuke reached for the glowing cluster of art against the strange statue, dodging and weaving with a thief's grace around Luce's attempts to stop him. He fought against the larger man, desperately trying to stop him as the forms of Dark and Krad began flickering and fading into the darkness. Satoshi's voice filled his ears as he shouted at him to stop, but he seemed so far away through the pulsing light. It seemed as if the very world around him was splintering, fragmenting at the corner of his vision and the edge of his hearing as the Mirrors continued to shatter under the pressure. Luce's thrashing beneath him grew less insistent, yet it grew harder to grasp the mirrors. His hands scrabbled for purchase on the mirrors he could hardly feel as he struggled to see through the blinding light, and suddenly he wondered why he knew that Luce was smiling and that Krad was in pain, and why he could no longer hear Satoshi calling.

"Daisuke!" Satoshi kept calling him, still trying to see his friend as the world inside the Corinthian Mirrors began shattering and falling apart as its host objects were destroyed. "Daisuke!" They had to get out of this place now, but he didn't even know how. He began to back up, but the floor collapsed beneath him as the entire place filled with the pulsing light. The light overwhelmed him and he fell into unconsciousness, but not before he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around him accompanied by the subtle sound of beating wings…

* * *

It had only been a few minutes, yet already the entire Niwa family plus Riku, Wiz and To-to had gathered around the invisible spot that marked where the Portal of Art's doorway had disappeared. Their confused discussion on what had happened had halted, however, when To-To's eyes had gone bright and distant.

"There is another artwork that has been activated. But…it does not feel of Hikari…Daisuke…" She began walking, trance-like, across the room, her face lifted toward the second floor, her feet gracefully stepping unerringly for the staircase. The rest followed her. Halfway up the climb, a bright flash shone out from Daisuke's bedroom. "Two familiar presences…" her voice trailed off as her eyes refocused, "It can't be!" Everyone sprinted up the remaining steps to Daisuke's room, all of them drawing up short at the scene that greeted them.

Two unmoving bodies lay on the floor, a head of bright blue showing beneath the limp black-clad arm of the lanky, violet-haired other. Obsidian feathers drifted gracefully to the floor as if newly shed, landing atop the sparkling shards of shattered mirror strewn about. Behind them on the wall hung Daisuke's painting, Wings of Black, the midnight field empty of its painted winged occupant. All that remained was the single feather in the foreground, the streak of crimson it trailed lonely against the backdrop.

Today, the first anniversary of the sealing of the Black Wings, Dark had returned, but Daisuke had not.

AN: Please don't kill me. I know its an awful cliffy, and kind of confusing too. I promise I'll explain next chapter. Things are getting a bit busy right now though, so it may be a little while before I can work on it, but I promise I'll do what I can to keep the waiting period short. Help inspire me-review!

Also, I meant to explain something Luce said in Chapter 10, but I forgot, so I'll do it now. You remember when Luce said, "_So many emotions, so many bonds; the ties between friends and between those forced to share the body's temple, the ties of two halves forever split, the pull between a cat and a mouse, even the utter loathing of one for the enemy's helper"_? Well, if you're curious about what he was referring to, I'll explain. 'the ties between friends'- self-explanatory really, but describes the relationship between Dark and Daisuke and Daisuke and Satoshi. 'between those forced to share the body's temple' refers to the relationships shared by Dark and Daisuke and Satoshi and Krad as people forced to share bodies. 'the ties of two halves forever split'-the relationship between Dark and Krad, the two halves of the Black Wings. 'the pull between a cat and a mouse'- the relationship between the thief, Dark, and the one who tries to catch him, Satoshi. 'utter loathing of one for the enemy's helper'- the relationship between Krad and Daisuke.


	12. Heart of Chaos

**AN:** Sorry it took so long. This is one of the first times I've been able to access my internet in about a month. I swear, I've had this chapter ready to post for about 3-4 weeks, but I can just now post it. I'm a little worried that it might be confusing, so if it is, let me know and I'll explain it before the next chapter. A bit pathetic that I have to explain my explanations, but there you go. And I don't know how long it'll be until the next chapter because I've got finals coming up starting next week. Maybe I can cram something out during Christmas holiday.

Chapter 12

Heart of Chaos

Darkness and light swirled confusingly in Daisuke's vision, swapping back and forth at the edge of sight. He shook his head, strands of spiky red hair swaying with the movement as if underwater, then blinked several times. Still the opposites swam around in a chaotic battle for precedence in his mind. He couldn't think where he was, why he was here. As he focused on his elusive thoughts, his surroundings coalesced. It was so bright now, blinding in its brilliance, and before him…dark stretched before him, like the bottom of a tunnel. Darkness…something niggled at the edge of his memories. Yes, that was right. He headed single-mindedly, determinedly, toward the darkness. _That's why I am here._

_I still have to save Dark._

* * *

It felt as if his very existence was being shattered, the broken pieces of his being falling into the grasping void of chaos that was the flare of magic before him. He could feel it pulling at his fragmenting self, could feel it as the same happened to the blonde one across from him and the black-haired one who started it all. The pieces of themselves began warping in the chaos, staying as they ever were yet blending and merging to form something new.

The blackness that bound him splintered as the world that crushed him broke. But yet- as fast as he felt himself being destroyed by the breaking world he felt himself rejuvenated with a replenishing strength, an outside power, somehow at once strange and familiar, pulling him back from the brink of destruction. Lucidity slowly returned as he fought to pull the pieces of himself together, and he became painfully aware of the situation. The space across from him was empty, the other man having failed to resist the chaotic magic. A desperate, persistent cry added an eerie counter point to the blinding throb of light and dark that lay at the heart of the chaos. A desperate battle was going on in the center of the chaos, flashes of black and bright red thrashing about as two figures struggled around a third, unfamiliar statue. Black wings he hadn't noticed summoning beat powerfully against the failing world, thrusting him forward in a frantic attempt to separate three intertwined figures, as he knew deep down he must.

But he was too late.

Just as he reached his goal, he felt the chaotic magic lose its grip on him as the rejuvenating power finished its spell. The magic's grasp shifted as it recoiled from him, seeking a replacement for its lost component and fixating on the redhead near it. He tried to separate the two people and the statue, pulling with every bit of magic power and strength he possessed, but still he was blown backward by the chaos. His own cries echoed in his ears even as he realized that the cries from before had ceased. There was nothing more he could accomplish by staying here, so he salvaged what he could, wings beating a hasty retreat as the world finally dissolved about him. And just as he managed to escape with his silent burden, a lone familiar voice, twisted with mal-intent, echoed through his mind:

_**Poor Dark. Even in success, you have failed…**_

Bright violet eyes shot open as the words lingered in the air. Dark groaned as the memory slowly released its grip on him. Reality sunk in as he realized his lanky form had been laid along a comforting sofa in a living room bright with late morning light that chased away the darkness in his dream. He recognized it as the Niwas' home. He began to ease himself upright, but stopped as he felt a warm weight pressed tight against his chest. Raising a hand, he found a fluffy white ball curled up and slightly snoring.

"Wiz…" he said, gently stroking his old familiar.

"So you're finally awake. You always _were _a night person." Satoshi's cool voice quietly came from across the room. He glanced at what had captured Dark's attention. "He's been like that all night. We couldn't get him to leave your side." Wiz shifted slightly in his sleep, and Dark was able to see a small purple-pink bird snuggled against his belly, head under one wing and rocking slightly with his breathing. "And it'd be best not to wake her; she was up most of the night trying to find where the others went." Dark sneered and opened his mouth to make a smart remark at his old opponent, but stopped before he woke up the two on top of him. He sat up slowly, easing an arm under the two to support them as he shifted. Their slumber continued unbroken, the two cuddling into the crook of his arm as the Niwas entered the room, drawn by Satoshi's voice.

"Feeling better, Dark?" Daiki asked, "you've been asleep since yesterday afternoon."

"Yeah, well, you would too if you'd been stuck inside that damn mirror." Dark unconsciously rubbed with his free hand the place on his cheek where Luce had sliced him, underscoring the cockiness in his voice. He stopped suddenly, pulling his hand away from his face as he realized that an uncomfortable silence had fallen. He looked searchingly at the uneasy forms of Emiko and Kosuke before Satoshi spoke again.

"Daisuke's not in there with you, is he, Dark?" The blunt accusation cut through Dark, slicing him to his core and leaving him bare. "We had To-to look, but she couldn't find him."

Dark looked away from them now, avoiding their gazes. "No, he's not here."

"What happened, Dark?" Kosuke asked, stepping forward to place his hands on the back of the couch, Emiko hanging off of him worriedly. "We need you to tell us what's going on."

"I'm assuming Hiwatari told you that Luce took them inside the world of the Corinthian Mirrors. When he smashed the mirrors…" Dark paused, trying figure out how to put the confused sensations into words. He began explaining as best he could about the magic that had grabbed him, seeking to swallow him up and destroy him, about the second magic that had saved him and broke him free, about Daisuke being caught in the middle and trying and failing to save him. "But I don't understand what I'm doing here. How can I be here without Daisuke?"

"I think I can answer that." Satoshi said, pushing his glasses back up his nose with a finger. He reached down to where he and the Niwas had moved Daisuke's painting late last night. "Feel anything familiar?"

Dark looked hard at the painted canvas. "Its just a background and painting of a feather. What the hell am I supposed to f-?" He cut himself short, stopping mid-word as he realized that there was a strong magic power coming from the painting, and indeed a familiar one. It felt exactly the same as the magic that had saved him from Luce's spell.

"Is that…is that one of Daisuke's paintings?" he asked, incredulously. Satoshi nodded in the affirmative.

"Took you long enough. You know, it won first place in this year's art contest, and hung in the art hallway for sometime for all your little fan-girls to sigh over." He smirked at Dark's confused expression at the empty picture. "It also used to contain, not only the feather, but a single black-winged figure in silhouette. Our theory is that the emotions Daisuke felt while painting this, and those gathered while on display gave the painting power, just like a Hikari artwork." He placed the painting carefully back where he found it, then looked at Dark over the rims of his glasses, clear blue meeting deep violet amusedly. "It's just like with the Toki no Byushin, only this time, it's not she or Niwa in the painting; its you.

"Welcome to your new home, Dark," he remarked.

Dark was silent for a few seconds, then smirked, acting like his old, cocky self. "Well. That certainly explains a few things, like why I didn't disappear when the Corinthian Mirror shattered."

"But, Dark," Emiko said from behind Kosuke's shoulder, "What about Dai? He…he's not gone, is he?" She stared imploringly at him, and he was glad to see that, this time, she didn't seem like she was going to kill him.

"No, I don't think he's gone. That spell that Luce performed was designed to transfer the emotions from the Thousand Tears' Shine to give the statue life, give Luce control of the artwork. Oh, yeah, and it would also would have let him turn myself and Krad into his personal living batteries." Dark smiled reassuring at his surrogate mother.

"Since when did you know so much about the intimate workings of Hikari magic, Dark?" Satoshi asked harshly. The man hadn't known about the secrets of artworks like Sage of Sleep or the Toki no Byushin before, why should he start knowing secrets now?

"Since I was almost completely sucked into the whirling vortex of a spell that tried to meld me with a man who's lived with Hikaris for generations and the man who cast the stupid spell himself," he answered mockingly towards the former commander. "So I know a little about the inner workings of Luce's mind."

"So do you know what he's planning, Dark? Or maybe a way to rescue Daisuke?" Daiki asked.

Dark looked over at his former host and considered the question. "As far as I can tell, Daisuke is probably trapped somewhere inside that statue, what he called the Heart of Chaos. And I have just the thing to try to get him out." He patted his clothing before widening his eyes in surprise. "What the-?"

Emiko smiled smugly, then held out a small, abstract sculpture. It was the Portal of Art Dark had stolen from Luce before fleeing the Mirror. "What? I spent my whole motherhood teaching Daisuke the thieving trade, so I know a few things myself. Besides, I made that costume you're wearing; I know _all_ the hidey-holes!"

"Well, that solves the problem of getting to Daisuke," Satoshi interjected, "but how are we supposed to find _where_ he is? We don't have any clues where Luce-"

The phone jangled noisily, drowning out the end of his sentence. Kosuke looked around the room, then headed over to pick up the receiver. "Hello? Oh, Riku? About what happened yesterday?"

Dark was surprised by the statement. Riku was here yesterday? He started to ask about it, but stopped as Satoshi interrupted him.

"Miss Harada was visiting when Luce showed up yesterday," he stated plainly, as if he had known Dark was going to ask that. Based off of how much the boy had studied him, he probably _had_ known. "She was also here when we came back. As far as I can gather, she became rather panicky when Daisuke didn't return, so the Niwas sent her home to get her out of the way and allow her to calm down." He remained facing Dark, but his eyes slid over to the telephone. "She was supposed to contact us if she saw or heard anything that might help." Satoshi looked back again as his cell phone rang in his pocket, and he left the room to take the call.

There came a murmur of thanks from Kosuke and a soft click as he hung up the phone. "It seems we're all going to get a clue really soon." He stepped around the couch, oblivious to the confused grimaces at his word play. Digging around for a little, he stood up triumphantly with the TV remote in hand. Ignoring the questioning looks, he turned on the television, flipping the channel to the news station Riku had told him to check out.

A woman was standing in front of a large crowd of gathered on-lookers, shouting factoids and rumors above the general murmur. Behind them, policemen barred their entrance to a forested area of the Azumano Park, Inspector Saehara and his men hunkered behind the red-and-blue-flashing vehicles, the only things visible through the dense trees. Every now and then flashes of dark color could be seen through the winter-stripped branches, accompanied by the occasional crash or rumble, presumably the unseen perpetrator wreaking destruction.

"Still no official word yet on exactly who the police are trying to catch, or even what the situation is. We have it from inside sources that the inspector has ordered every officer to remain silent with the press, though many in the crowd are willing to talk. Many accounts have told of a mysterious dark-winged figure, much like the infamous Phantom Thief Dark, though every report has said that this person is somehow different. This mystery man is being described simply as 'threatening.'"

"It's him," Dark said darkly, "It's Luce, inside the Heart of Chaos."

"That's not all, Dark," Satoshi said, slipping his phone back into his pocket and reentering the room. "That was Inspector Saehara. We have a problem."

**AN: **I know, that probably didn't do as much as you wanted. You want more with Daisuke, right? Well, you'll get more with him when I manage to work it in! But there should be a little more with him next chapter. But I'm going to make some big references to the manga next chapter and I know some of you haven't read it, so I have to figure out how to summarize what all you're going to need to know.

Anyway, let me know what you thought of this. Review!


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